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SCOUTING THRILLS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



SCOUTING THRILLS 



\/ BY 

CAPTAIN G.'^B. McKEAN, V.C., M.C., M.M. 

14th Battalion Canadian Infantry 



WITH FOREWORD BY 
LIEUT.-GEN. SIE R. E. W. TURNER 

V.C., K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1919 

All rights reserved 






COPTMOHT, 1919, 

bt the macmillan company. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1919. 



mi i^!9iy 



Notinooli ^trss 

J. S. Cushing Co. — Berwick A Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A525447 



FOEEWORD 

By Lieut.-Gen. Sir R. E. W. Turner, V.C, 
K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. Chief op Gen- 
eral Staff, Canadian Forces 

rpHE initiative, and individual bravery 
-■■ of the Battalion Scouts have been 
outstanding in the Canadian Army since the 
beginning of the Campaign. 

It can be truthfully said, the Canadians on 
their front owned " No Man's Land." 

This ascendancy over the Boche was 
gained not by reckless bravery, but by the 
superior intellect and resourcefulness of our 
men, developed by studied training. 

The lessons gained on their dangerous 
patrols in the face of an enemy, by our gal- 
lant scouts will be invaluable in helping the 
Scout movement so happily revived in Can- 
ada by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught 
during his term as Governor General. 



vi FOREWORD 

This book, written by a Scout officer who 
has gained the most coveted decoration of 
the British Army in the execution of his 
duty, depicts in simple language the neces- 
sity for Scouts to at all times live up to their 
motto '^ Be prepared. '* 



CONTENTS 



FoHEWORD BY Lieut.-Gen. Sie R. E. W. Turner, 

V.C, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., D.S.O. 
Introductory 

I. An Ambuscade 
II. A Find . 

III. Exploding a Mine 

IV. Raid Reconnaissances 
V. Pulling the String 

VI. Hun Raids 
VII. The Mysterious Tunnel 
VIII. Lost in No Man's Land 
IX. Winning a V.C. 
X. The Warning Whistle . 
XI. A Bayonet Charge 
XII. Capturing a Village 



V 

1 
11 

28 

45 

61 

78 

95 

120 

140 

155 

181 

197 

216 



vM 



INTRODUCTORY 

THE purpose of this book is to set forth, 
in as attractive a form as possible, the 
interesting and important work performed 
by scouts in the Great War, now happily 
brought to a successful and triumphant 
conclusion. It is necessarily limited to 
personal experiences, but, as similar ex- 
periences were common to the work of. all 
scouts, it is really more than a personal 
narrative. It is not written to instruct in 
methods of scouting, for doubtless, to the 
highly trained, expert scout, many of the 
things we did in carrying out our duties 
would appear to be clumsy and inex- 
perienced—methods to be avoided, not 
copied. The stories are written to enter- 
tain and possibly to thrill, but certainly 
not to instruct. To the boy who loves 
stories of adventure (and what boy is there 
who does not?) this book will, I trust, 
make an appeal. The stories are plain, 
unvarnished, truthful records of incidents 



2 SCOUTING THRILLS 

that actually happened. There are no 
fictitious characters introduced; I have 
not even attempted to camouflage names. 
In doing this, I sincerely hope that I have 
not given offence to any one, that those 
who unexpectedly find themselves figuring 
in these stories will pardon me for having, 
without their consent, introduced them into 
print. 

For more than four years we have been 
entertained, thrilled, and instructed by 
highly coloured accounts, written by war 
correspondents, of the important decisive 
actions of the war. They were continu- 
ously on the fringe of the battle and ex- 
cellently placed for giving a broad, general 
description of events as they were happen- 
ing. It is the privilege of humble partici- 
pants, such as myself, to give the more 
intimate account of these same historic 
events. I have attempted to do this from 
the scouts' standpoint, for I think it can 
safely be claimed that of all the partici- 
pants in the war, there were none who en- 
joyed more unique opportunities for viewing 
it from, as it were, ' a front seat,' than did 
the scout. We were forever scraping up a 
lively acquaintance with the Hun. We 



INTRODUCTORY 3 

found, as I hope these stories prove, that 
he was woefully lacking in the spirit of 
adventure. Our mastery over No Man's 
Land was very seldom challenged, and on 
behalf of all scouts, I do not hesitate to 
claim our overwhelming superiority over 
the Hun in this interesting and adventurous 
work. 

It was pure love of adventure that 
attracted me to scouting, a love which, if 
not exactly born in me, was at least de- 
veloped in me, through my association with 
the Boy Scout movement; and it was the 
principles of this organisation which, more 
than anything else, underlay all our train- 
ing. I remember very vividly, when I was 
acting as an instructor at a school for 
training scouts that, at the beginning of 
each class, we were addressed by a colonel 
under whose supervision we worked. His 
first question to the class was : — 

* Now, boys, what is it most important 
that a scout should have?' The replies 
were many and varied, but seldom correct. 
' Good eyesight '; ' good hearing '; ' good 
physique ' ; ' be a good shot ' ; 'a knowl- 
edge of map reading ' ; were some of the 
many replies. 



4 SCOUTING THRILLS 

* No, you are all wrong/ the colonel 
would reply; ' a scout's honour is the most 
important thing of all. If a scout isn't to 
be trusted then he's no good to me, and 
he will be no good to his commanding 
officer. ' 

It was to develop this sense of honour 
that was the chief end and aim of our 
training. For no matter how clever and 
expert a scout might be, if he could not 
be trusted to carry out his commission, then 
he was no good as a scout. The scouts 
worked alone, it was seldom any check 
could be kept on their work; they either 
said they had carried out an order and had; 
or else they said they had carried out an 
order and hadn't. The importance of having 
scouts who, no matter what difficulties or 
dangers were involved, would carry out 
orders and return with the information 
required, can easily be understood. 

The work of the scout in France was full 
of interest, excitement and danger. Each 
patrol was an adventure. That narrow 
strip of land separating armies and known 
as No Man's Land was our hunting ground. 
It was a strangely lonely place, friendless 
and menacing, a land of darkness and 



INTRODUCTORY 5 

mystery, but possessing a fascination all 
its own. The object of our patrols was 
to obtain information about the enemy — 
to locate definitely his outposts, to report 
upon his defences, such as the condition of 
his wire, et cetera. 

Our work was chiefly done under the 
cover of darkness — the time when we could 
best approach his defences without being 
observed. Occasionally, during the last 
few months of the war, when attacks were 
an almost daily occurrence and the situa- 
tion was frequently obscure, daylight patrols 
were sent out. But a daylight patrol, un- 
less the conditions were favourable to it 
(such as, for example, working along an 
old trench), was never very satisfactory. 
The difficulties of approaching closely to 
the enemy positions were usually too great 
to be successfully overcome. 

Associated with the scouts were observers 
and snipers, the three sections being grouped 
together and known generally as the In- 
telligence section. This was a separate 
unit in a battalion, and was under the 
command of an Intelligence Officer who, 
in most battalions, had associated with him 
in his work a Scout Officer. All members 



6 SCOUTING THRILLS 

of this unit were known as specialists, 
and did special training during the period 
when the battalion was resting. They 
were billeted together, messed together, 
and generally were a very happy, sociable 
family of about thirty men. During the 
training periods the scouts were instructed 
in map-reading; the use of the prismatic 
compass; marching on compass bearings 
by day and by night; sketching and 
making reports ; signalling (semaphore and 
Morse) ; methods of crawling ; practice in 
bomb-throwing, and revolver practice. The 
two latter were probably the most popular 
branches of training. We were usually 
most happy when we could get in amongst 
some old trenches and practise bombing 
raids, using live bombs. Eight or ten of 
us would throw bombs together and make a 
most terrific noise. We once got hold 
of a box of salvaged German bombs, which 
had a much louder detonation than ours, 
but were not nearly so dangerous. We 
thought it a good idea to get used to 
German bombs exploding within a few 
yards of us, so gaily scattered salvos of 
them around, to the great alarm of the 
inhabitants of an adjoining village who, 



INTRODUCTORY 7 

hearing these loud explosions and finding 
that the windows of their houses rattled 
and shook, rushed out of their houses in 
dismay, thinking that the hated Boche was 
bombing them! By an unhappy coin- 
cidence, on our very first night in the line 
following this, we made an altogether too 
intimate acquaintance with German bombs 
and one of the most popular members of 
our section was killed/ These practices did 
not lack the element of danger; on two 
occasions we had scouts wounded. In 
addition to the work of patrolling, there 
was the work of guiding reliefs in and out 
of the line. This demanded an intimate 
acquaintance with all the routes in the 
back and forward areas, which could only 
be obtained by diligent and painstaking 
reconnaissance work. 

The above gives a fairly detailed account 
of the different duties of the scout in France. 
It will perhaps serve to give an added in- 
terest to the stories that follow. 

I joined the Intelligence section first as 
a sniper but, a few days later, I was made 
an observer, and a few weeks later still, 

^ The incident is described in the story Lost in No Man's 
Land. 



8 SCOUTING THEILLS 

became a scout. I afterwards became scout 
corporal, and finally scout officer. 

The sequence of the stories is exactly as 
they happened. Between the first and 
second there is a gap of some months. The 
scene of the first is in the Ypres salient, and 
that of the second is Vimy Ridge. During 
the interval between, we took part in what 
was, as far as my experience goes, the 
bloodiest fighting of the whole war. I refer 
to the Battle of the Sonmae in 1916. The 
memories of it are too gruesome for me ever 
to include any incident of my experiences 
in a book of, I trust, fairly cheerful war 
stories. It was a period which, to me, was 
entirely lacking in the glamour and romance 
which we all associate with the war. The 
last two stories are not scouting stories, but 
I trust the interest in them will not be 
lefssened on that account. Apart from con- 
veying some idea of the conditions prevail- 
ing in the final stages of the war, and the 
new and changed conditions under which 
scouts were working, they describe two that 
were (to me at any rate) rather thrilling 
incidents, and so should be of interest to all 
readers. 

Although the book is written primarily 



INTRODUCTORY 9 

for boys, I trust that the stories will prove 
of sufficient interest to entertain ' grown- 
ups ' also. 

Some of the characters in this book have 
paid the supreme sacrifice. Truer com- 
rades, or braver soldiers, it would be difficult 
to find. I count it a privilege to give public 
expression to my unbounded and warmly 
affectionate admiration of their sterling 
worth as soldiers and men — the type that 
has brought immortal fame and glory to 
Canada's citizen army. To have fought 
with them side by side will be for ever a 
proud memory. The example of patriotism 
and sacrifice which they have set — ^these 
scouts of the Great War — should be copied 
and practised by every boy who belongs to 
the great Boy Scout organisation. 



AN AMBUSCADE 

THIS is not going to be a story about my- 
self, tbough I might come into it 
occasionally. It is about the boys who 
taught me scouting, particularly about one 
boy known familiarly as Tommy. He 
was scout sergeant when I first made his 
acquaintance, and afterwards became scout 
officer at the time when I was a corporal in 
the scout section. 

My acquaintance began from the moment 
when I joined the battalion in the spring 
of 1916. My imagination had been well 
fed at the Base upon stories of hair-raising 
escapes and ghastly mutilation, so it was 
with very mixed feelings that I looked 
forward to my participation in the Great 
War. My interest in scouting led me to 
seek out the boys engaged in this adven- 
turous work, and it was then that I met 
Tommy. 

11 



12 SCOUTING THRILLS 

The battalion was out for a few days' 
rest in a camp of tents in a grove of trees 
in Flanders. As I approached the tent, 
sounds of revelry came from it, music and 
voices singing. I pulled the flap over the 
opening to one side and entered. Tommy 
was seated on a little box pulling away at 
an old melodeon. He was playing the 
music of many popular songs, the rest of 
the boys in the tent were all singing lustily. 
It was a happy, hilarious gathering. There 
was many a night afterwards when I made 
one of similar merry gatherings, times 
too when there were, through casualties, 
occasional blanks in our choruses. Hard- 
ships and dangers and longings were quickly 
and completely forgotten under the spell 
of the music from Tommy's old melodeon. 

During the two or three days the battalion 
was resting after I joined it, I cultivated the 
companionship of the scouts and was always 
eager to hear the stories of their adventures. 
When we went up the line I went up ' in 
the company,' which means that I was just 
one of the common or garden type of 
Tommy, doing sentry duty and working- 
parties and cultivating an eye for a 'Minnie. '^ 

1' Minnie,' a German minenwerfer shell, corresponding to 
our trench mortar shell. 



AN AMBUSCADE 13 

I shall not forget the first night when I 
looked out over the parapet into that land 
of mystery and wonder — No Man's Land. 
Somewhere out there was the enemy! 
Occasionally I saw the flash of a rifle as 
a German sentry fired, and heard the sing 
of the bullet. Merely to look out over 
there seemed to me an act of courage! I 
tingled with the excitement of my new ex- 
perience. At last I was in the war, not 
merely dressed up as a soldier, but actually 
facing the enemy — not more than a hundred 
yards away ! And it was that little strip of 
land bestrewn with wire and obstacles, 
that unknown disputed piece of ground 
called ' No Man's Land ' — that most readily 
and quickly appealed to my imagination. 
I looked out into it and pondered over 
its mystery. As if in answer to my unspoken 
question an N.C.O. hopped on to the firing 
step alongside of me and asked : 

' Did you hear anybody in the wire ? ' 
As a matter of fact I had been doing 
nothing else but hearing and seeing things ! 
Like every land of mystery it seemed to be 
peopled with shadowy forms. 

* Yes,' I whispered back earnestly, ' I 
think I saw somebody too. ' 

* Where ? ' he asked. 



14 SCOUTING THRILLS 

* There,' I replied, indicating the direc- 
tion. 

After a few moments the N.C.O. turned to 
me. 

' Did you ever see a fence post I ' he 
asked. 

^ Scores of them, ' I replied. 

^ Well, you must have forgotten what 
they look like, for that's what your man is 
out there — a fence post. ' 

It was rather discouraging and humili- 
ating, but it taught me a lesson — that a little 
imagination on a dark night is a very 
dangerous thing. 

* Keep a good look out,' said the N.C.O. 
as he left me ; ' A fellow a little further 
along the trench swears he heard some one 
in the wire. ' 

A few minutes later I felt a tug on my 
arm — it was the N.C.O. back again. 

* A patrol is going out on the left — 
five scouts ; they '11 be out for about two 
hours. If you see or hear anybody out 
there, be sure to challenge before you 
shoot.' 

Five scouts going out into No Man's 
Land! My imagination immediately got 
busy — ^five scouts roaming around out there 



AN AMBUSCADE 15 

in that land of mystery and darkness! 
My imaginings were interrupted by the 
relief coming along to take my place, but 
my curiosity was not lessened, and I was 
glad and relieved when I heard the word 
being passed along that ^ the patrol was in.' 
A few minutes later they passed along the 
trench. The next morning when off duty 
I went down to headquarters and sought 
out the scouts. Tommy, at my request, 
gave me an account of the patrol of the 
previous night. I was full of curiosity. 
One scout had been fired at, the bullet 
passing through his cap. When he had 
finished, I asked : 

* Do you think I could get into your 
section?/ 

^ * Yes, sure ; next time you are out of the 
line, ask to be transferred. ' 

I did so and was transferred. As I had 
some knowledge of map reading I went 
into the line as an observer and not as a 
scout. My duty as an observer was to sit 
in a specially constructed Observation Post 
from which a good view of a particular 
section of the German trench was available. 
The O.P. (as it was popularly called) was 
equipped with a telescope and a map. I 



16 SCOUTING THRILLS 

shan't ever forget the excitement and shock 
of seeing my first German. The telescope 
was a good one and the German trench a bare 
hundred yards away. It was a sunny 
morning and I was sitting with my eye 
glued to the telescope when the top of a 
German service cap (the soft peakless kind) 
came into my field of view. Very slowly 
it moved upwards, then I saw a pair of 
eyebrows, then the eyes underneath these, 
and finally the fat, full face of a German I 
He was stealing a look across No Man's 
Land! But this was nothing to the ex- 
citement of the following morning when, 
about two thousand yards behind the 
German front line, there appeared a party 
of about fifty Germans — carrying picks and 
shovels. I watched them until they halted, 
then spread out and commenced digging. 
Rapidly I figured out just about where they 
would be on the map, and making a note 
of the location, rushed back to headquarters 
and reported it. I was told the artillery 
would fire a few rounds into them so rushed 
back to the O.P. to see what would happen. 
In a few minutes I heard the scream of 
shells passing overhead. I saw a few white 
puffs not many feet above the heads of 



AN AMBUSCADE 17 

the working-party: it was shrapnel. Im- 
mediately there was the wildest confusion 
— picks and shovels were thrown down and 
men ran wildly in all directions! I was 
fairly dancing with excitement and satis- 
faction ! After some minutes they returned 
in one's and two's; those who had been hit 
were carried away; picks and shovels were 
collected and the party straggled back, leav- 
ing the work unfinished. But, interesting as 
all this was, my chief longing was to go out 
on patrol, and, that night, I went to where 
the scouts were staying. 

^ Hullo, ' said Tommy, ^ how do you like 
observing'? ' 

* Fine,' I replied, and proceeded to give 
him an account of the discomfiture of the 
Huns. When I had finished I remarked : 

* I suppose you are going out to-night? ' 

* Yes ; two or three of us. ' 

* What are the chances of going out with 
you? ' 

* Why, d'you want to come? ' 

* Yes, I'm very keen.' 

* All right, come along about nine o'clock, 
we'll get a revolver for you. ' 

' Thanks very much,' I said, ^ I'll be along 
at nine.' 



18 SCOUTING THEILLS 

I was there before nine. 

* Before you go out, ' Tommy remarked to 
me, ' you must take all your badges off and 
leave all letters and papers behind. ' 

'Why is that? ' I asked. 

' Well, in case you were taken prisoner or 
were killed and had to be left out there. 
If they found letters and papers on you 
they would secure identification. Also the 
badges show up bright when a flare light is 
shot up, and would perhaps give away our 
position at the time.' 

So I very seriously and soberly began to 
remove all badges and letters. These pre- 
cautions impressed me with the seriousness 
of this game of scouting. A few minutes 
afterwards the Scout Officer came in and 
we went up to the front line. It was a very 
dark night, but quite mild and dry. We 
moved up and down the trench warning 
the sentries. At last we came to the place 
where it had been decided we should go out. 
The officer was not going — Tommy, another 
scout, and myself were to make up the 
patrol. The place where it had been decided 
we should go out at was one of our Listening 
Posts. Now, of all the unpopular duties 
that fell to the lot of the suffering Tommy, 



AN AMBUSCADE 19 

that of Listening Post was perhaps the 
most detestable. It was usually made up 
of two men who, as an extra defensive 
precaution, were sent out in front of the 
front line trench. The distance out from 
our trench varied, sometimes not more than 
twenty yards, sometimes fifty to seventy-five 
yards. The men usually established them- 
selves in some commodious shell-hole and 
were in communication with the front 
line trench by means of a wire. One pull 
on the wire signified O.K., two pulls (from 
the trench) was a signal to the men in the 
Listening Post that some one (probably 
the relief) was coming out from the trench, 
three pulls (from the Listening Post) was 
a call for the N.C.O., four pulls (from the 
Listening Post) was an alarm, five pulls 
(from the trench) was the signal to the men 
in the Listening Post to return to the 
trench. It was a dirty, dangerous job, and 
thoroughly disliked. The miseries of it on 
a cold wet night can easily be imagined, often 
lying in a shell-hole half filled with water. 
Sometimes a little wire was strung out in 
front as protection against attack, but 
more often the post was unprotected. 
Occasionally there was a tragedy out there : 



20 SCOUTING THRILLS 

a rifle fired or a bomb thrown, and frantic 
signals out to the Listening Post unanswered. 
A party goes out to find maybe one man 
lying dead and one missing, or perhaps both 
missing. The Listening Post we passed 
was perhaps twenty to thirty yards out 
from our trench, just inside of our wire. 
After a few whispered words to the two 
men in it, we crawled through our wire and 
out into the land of my imaginative wonder- 
ings — No Man's Land! Tommy led the 
way while I brought up the rear. Just as 
I was in the act of raising myself over a 
twisted wire stake, a flare light was shot 
up from the German trench. 

* Stay where you are, ' came back the sharp 
whispered command from Tommy. 

As the light broke and fell I felt myself 
to be assuming gigantic proportions; I felt 
as if the eyes of the whole German army 
were being riveted upon me and a thou- 
sand rifles were levelled at me ! It was my 
first experience of being in the lime-light of 
No Man's Land. The light flickered and 
slowly died out, and the darkness seemed 
more intense than ever. With a sigh of 
relief and thankfulness, I completed my 
progress over the obstacle and followed on 



AN AMBUSCADE 21 

the heels of the scout in front of me. After 
crawling along for some time the heels 
suddenly disappeared. With palpitating 
heart I continued to crawl and came to the 
edge of a huge shell-hole. I looked down 
into it but failed to distinguish anything, 
then I heard somebody whisper : 
' Come on down into this shell-hole. ' 
I did so, and found Tommy and the other 
scout contentedly sitting in the bottom of it. 
We did not stop to examine it closely, but 
crawled out of it and forward into another 
one not quite so large. Tommy came along- 
side of me. 

* Can you see the German wire ? ' 

I looked and saw a shadowy mass not 
many yards in front of me. We lay listening 
for some time. 

* I'm going to wake 'em up,' whispered 
Tommy. 

* What are you going to do V I asked. 

^ Throw a bomb into his trench if I 
can.' 

I thrilled with anticipation. This was 
the real thing, I thought. Tommy stood 
up in the bottom of the shell-hole, grasped 
the bomb in his hand, pulled the pin and 
stood ready to throw it. I trembled with 



22 SCOUTING THRILLS 

the excitement of the moment. At last I 
heard the click of the released lever as the 
bomb flew over my head. A few seconds 
later there is a flash and a crash as the bomb 
explodes. Instantly three flare lights are 
shot up, breaking ahnost simultaneously, 
and the bullets from a machine gun swish 
over our heads. More lights go up — the Ger- 
man parapet is easily visible. We stay 
there perfectly still. After a few minutes 
the excitement dies down and we start back 
for our own trench. My first impulse was to 
get up and walk, but I recognised that cau- 
tion in returning was every bit as necessary 
as caution in going out. The amazing thing 
to me was the directness with which Tommy, 
despite the black darkness, went out and 
came back in again. Not many minutes 
after we had started on our return journey 
I heard voices in front of me — it was Tommy 
talking to the men in the Listening Post. A 
few minutes afterwards we were back in the 
protection and friendliness of our own 
trench. I was filled with a feeling of ex- 
hilaration. No Man's Land became more 
fascinating than ever to me — it was a place 
of thrills and adventure ! 

The next morning I was on duty in the 



AN AMBUSCADE 23 

O.P. — in fact most of the day was spent 
there. That night I was feeling too tired 
to try another midnight excursion between 
the lines. However, I went along to see the 
scouts before they went out. 

* Did you notice that big hole we were in 
last night,' Tommy asked. 

^ All I noticed was that it was a pretty big 
one,' I answered. 

* I intended having another look at it 
when we were coming back, but missed it,' 
continued Tommy. ' It seemed to me to 
be smooth, as though it was being used as 
a Listening Post or something of the sort. 
I intend having another look at it to- 
night. ' 

I stayed till they had gone, then went 
along to my own bit of a shelter, rolled 
myself up in my greatcoat, and was soon 
fast asleep. At daylight I was again sitting 
in the O.P. scanning the German trenches 
for signs of movement or new work. I had 
not been there long before I saw a German 
periscope pushed up, the interesting thing 
about it being that, as I could plainly see the 
glass reflector, I could also see the face of the 
German sentry who occasionally looked into 
it. He looked frankly bored with the war 



24 SCOUTING THEILLS 

and his particular part in it. I had 
an inspiration. I climbed out of the O.P. 
and went along the trench until I found one 
of our snipers. We went back to the O.P. 
and I pointed out to him the periscope. We 
then went along to a sniping post from which 
a view of the periscope was obtainable. I 
left him there, asking him to wait a couple 
of minutes until I could get back into the 
O.P. to see the fun. The Hun sentry was 
looking into the periscope when I got my 
glass on to it again. I had only a few seconds 
to wait when a bullet went right into the 
centre of the reflector, smashing it to smith- 
ereens. I was satisfied that we had brought 
the war home to the Hun in a very e:ffective 
way. A few minutes afterwards I was 
joined by the sniper. I congratulated him 
on his shooting. 

* Oh, by the way,' he said, * did you hear 
about the scouts having a big scrap in No 
Man's Land last night? ' 

* No, ' I replied, ' what happened ? ' 

* Oh, they got into a German Listening 
Post or something of the sort. ' 

* I must find out about this when I go 
back. ' 

In the afternoon when off duty for an 



AN AMBUSCADE 25 

hour or two I went along to the scouts' 
dug-out. 

* Hullo, Tommy, ' I said. ^ Heard you 
had a fight out on patrol last night. ' 

* Yes,' he answered; ' sit down and I'll 
tell you about it. You remember that big 
hole we were in the night before last ? ' 

* Yes,' I replied. 

* "Well, that was the place where we had 
all the fun. Pour of us went out at the same 
place— the Listening Post. We passed that 
shell-hole, so I thought we would examine it 
when coming back. We crawled around for 
a while, getting close up to the German wire. 
In coming back we went into that shell-hole 
— it was even bigger than I thought it was. 
In examining it I found a big hole in the side 
nearest to the German trench. Covering 
this hole or entrance were four thick, rough 
boards laid loosely against it. While I was 
looking at these I heard the click of a rifle 
bolt just inside the entrance. Keeping an 
eye on the entrance, I motioned a scout to 
take up a position in a clump of bushes on 
top of the opposite side of the shell-hole, 
another one to lie on top of the entrance 
looking down into it, while the other one 
came alongside of me. When we were all 



26 SCOUTING THBILLS 

in position I pushed my revolver in tlie 
crack between two of the loose boards, and 
fired. Immediately there was a rush and the 
boards were sent flying in all directions. A 
bayonet flashed past my ear and a Hun 
almost fell on top of me. I pulled the 
trigger and he collapsed. Inside the en- 
trance was a crowd of struggling, shrieking 
Huns. Three of us, including the scout 
lying on top of the entrance, emptied our 
revolvers into them and then scattered. A 
few seconds afterwards bombs were thrown 
from the shell-hole, but we were well clear of 
it by then — at least I was. We got separated 
and returned singly into the trench.' 

* Say, but you were lucky to get out of 
it so easily. But what were the Huns doing 
packed in there ? ' 

' We 've been talking it over. It was 
likely that they heard us there the night 
before last and then, hearing us pass there 
again last night, they had decided to get a 
big party together to cut us off so that we 
couldn't get back to our own trench. That 
was a tunnel they were packed in, which con- 
nected the Listening Post with the German 
trench. They were evidently all ready in 
there to come out when we slipped down into 



AN AMBUSCADE 27 

the hole. In other words, we got there ahead 
of them. ' 

' Well, you certainly spoiled their little 
game, didn't you 1 ' 

^ Yes, we certainly did, and I guess we 
messed up a few of them too. ' 

A few days later we were all singing 
lustily again to the tune of Tommy's old 
melodeon, the perils and thrills of No Man's 
Land forgotten. It was hard to tell in 
which Tommy excelled most, his intrepidity 
as a scout or his skill as a musician. After 
being scout officer with us for some months 
he was selected, on account of his special 
qualities of daring and initiative, to be one 
of a secret mission sent to the East. But we 
shall meet with Tommy again. 



II 

A FIND 

WE sat coughing and spluttering over 
a smouldering wood fire which 
Sharkum, the Russian, claimed the credit 
for lighting. 

' You ought to be shot at dawn for calling 
this bunch of smoke a fire, Sharkum,' 
coughed Louis. 

^ Dat's a good fire,' responded Sharkum; 

* you are lazy, want other peoples mak a 
fire while you do noding else but sit over 
it so that other peoples can't get near.' 

' Never mind, Sharkum, ' interrupted Jack 
the scout sergeant, ' you can stay in to- 
night and look after your fire. Louis can 
go with us on patrol. Try and have some 
warm tea ready for us when we get back. ' 

* That's right, Sharkum,' I chipped in, 

* you keep the home fires burning while we 
go and look for one of those terrible Huns. 
Be sure to have the sheets aired for us when 

28 



A FIND 29 

we get back and sprinkle them well with 
Keatings'. I love the taste of Keatings' 
when I wake up in the morning. ' 

* Yes, Sharkum/ said the irrepressible 
Louis, ^ you see, that's what we keep you 
in the section for while we men go out and 
do the work.' (Sharkimi would easily have 
made two of Louis.) ' Besides, it's safer 
in the dug-out, and you can keep your feet 
warm down here. ' 

Sharkum's eyes began to gleam angrily; 
he was neither a coward nor a slacker. Then 
he saw Louis wasn't in earnest, so began to 
help us into our crawling suits. Only 
three of us were going out. The trenches 
were close, and it was inadvisable to 
send out large patrols. Clouds were 
drifting across a bright moon. We waited 
for the clouds to hide it, for Fritz was only 
seventy-five yards away. Jack crawled 
carefully over the parapet and through the 
wire, and I followed. I was lying partly 
suspended over the parapet, when a cloud 
hurried past the moon and it shone down 
clear and bright. There was nothing to do 
but wait for the next cloud, and, suspended 
there, it seemed like an eternity before 
another cloud came along. Louis followed 



30 SCOUTING THKILLS 

a few mimites later. We were now out in 
the land of mine craters ; huge holes, some 
of them forty and fifty feet deep in the 
centre and from fifty to a hundred yards 
across, with probably a post of ours on the 
lip, and, immediately opposite, a post of 
the Germans. The possession of these mine 
craters was often fiercely disputed, and 
every night at the slightest suspicion of a 
noise bombs would be dropped into these 
yawning holes. No Man's Land on Vimy 
Ridge was pitted with them — large and 
small; and our patrols consisted chiefly 
in crawling into and around them, trying 
to establish definitely the location of the 
German posts. At day-time the mine 
craters were very lightly held; but at 
night-time, as soon as men could move 
around unseen, they came crawling out to 
the different points of vantage on the lip — 
bombers and machine gunners all deter- 
mined to hang on grimly to their particular 
piece of crater! And so, facing each other 
across that yawning hole were perhaps a 
score or more of men. We never entered the 
mine crater from any of our posts on 
the lip; that would give away, if seen, the 
location of our own posts ; and also, if seen, 



A FIND 31 

the wily Hun would wait until we had got 
well down into the crater. Then over 
would come his bombs, exploding with a 
deafening reverberating crash. So, knowing 
all this, we usually crawled out into No 
Man's Land and approached these craters 
in about the centre part. Our own men, if 
they saw us, knew who we were, for they 
had been warned to expect to see us there. 
In our patrol of the night of this story we 
had planned to go into one of these craters, 
intending, as usual, to approach it in the 
centre. So we crawled on towards it, know- 
ing it to be some fifty to sixty yards from 
where we had left our trench. It was 
while we were crawling towards it that I 
had the greatest fright I ever had. I had 
moved forward a few yards and lay listen- 
ing, when what appeared to me to be a 
huge dark object moved swiftly across my 
face about an inch from my nose. My 
heart gave a great bound and I partly 
sprang to my feet, when I saw, moving 
swiftly away from me, a huge rat! Ever 
after that, when on patrol, I always kept 
one eye on the look-out for rats straying 
around. A few minutes later we reached 
the mine crater and lay looking down into 



32 SCOUTING THEILLS 

it. Even in the moonlight the bottom of 
it was not discernible. After listening for 
some time, Jack and myself crawled quietly 
down into it, leaving Louis on the look-out 
on top. We crawled up to have a look at 
everything that appeared suspicious. A 
German sentry coughed and we looked up. 
We could see the top of his steel helmet 
glistening in the moonlight. We spent 
nearly an hour crawling around in that 
weird place without anything eventful hap- 
pening. I went back for Louis, and the 
three of us then crawled out at the other 
side. It was a relief to get out of that 
dismal hole. After resting for a few min- 
utes (for crawling is hard, tiring work) 
we made off in the direction of the German 
trench. We carefully wriggled our way 
into the German wire and lay there listening. 
In the trench, not many yards to our right, 
we could plainly hear a German working 
party. We could hear a succession of dull 
thuds as they knocked some timbers into 
the ground, apparently repairing a trench. 
We carefully noted the location, so that, 
as soon as we returned to our trench, we 
could notify the trench mortar men, and 
they would lob a few rounds over, to the 



A FIND 33 

discomfiture of the working party. We 
wriggled out of the wire and continued our 
wanderings. We were nearing another mine 
crater when Jack — who was in front — ^made 
a warning signal with his foot. Then 
another signal — I crawled alongside of him. 
He indicated a trench in front of him 
running out from the German front line 
(we were then about forty yards from the 
German trench). We crawled forward un- 
til we were looking down into it. It was a 
good trench, and, despite the mud prevailing 
everywhere, was clean and in good condition. 
Jack dropped down into it. After a few 
moments he looked up. 

' Somebody has been in here, Mac,' he 
said. ' You watch for any one coming 
from that direction (indicating the German 
lines) while I have a look down here.' 

He went off in the direction of our own 
lines, while I lay with my revolver pointing 
in the direction of the German lines. In a 
very few moments he returned. 

' Just come along here, Mac, and have a 
look at this, ' he said. 

I followed him a few yards along the 
trench. At the end of it there was a little 
shelter reaching almost to the top. Piled 



34 SCOUTING THRILLS 

carefully into this shelter, in neat rows, 
were about a score of German minenwerfer 
shells! These were of medium size and 
must have been placed there recently. 
What was the idea ? 

' What do you think it is. Jack; some 
kind of a trap where, if you touch one, the 
whole thing goes up *? ' I suggested. 

* No, I don't think so,' he replied. ' Shall 
we take one of them back with us ? ' 

' Yes, we might as well.' 

I watched him as he reached to get one, 
not having entirely got rid of my idea that 
it was some kind of a trap, and half expect- 
ing the whole thing to go up. But nothing 
happened. He handed the shell to me: it 
weighed about sixty pounds. 

^ Not much chance to do any crawling with 
this in your arms, ' I remarked. 

* No, we can't crawl with it; it's a case of 
getting up and walking.' 

' How far do you think we are from our 
nearest post ? ' 

' Probably fifty to sixty yards. ' 

' Could you go to it in a straight line from 
here? ' 

* Yes, easily.' 

' All right, you start off. Get into that 



A FIND 35 

post and I'll follow behind with this ' 
(lovingly hugging the Minnie). 

* Righto,' he said, climbed out of the 
trench and made off in the direction of our 
post. When he had got about half way I 
laid the Minnie shell carefully on the outside 
of the trench (we weren't sure whether or 
not it was detonated), climbed out, picked 
up the shell, and followed in the direction 
Jack was going. The shell was heavy and 
the mud knee-deep and indescribably sticky. 
I had intended to go quickly but struggled 
along, experiencing that nice creeping night- 
mare feeling where, try as you will, you 
cannot escape from the horrible fate over- 
taking you. I reached our post. Jack 
was standing waiting for me, and I handed 
him the shell before jumping down into the 
trench. The two or three men in the post 
crowded around to see what we had got. 

* A Minnie shell that we found out there, ' 
explained Jack ; * there 's a small dug-out 
full of them piled neatly up in rows.' 

' Is it detonated? ' queried one interested 
youth. 

' Don't know,' answered Jack. * I expect 
it is.' 

* Punch it on the nose with the butt of 



36 SCOUTING THEILLS 

your rifle,' suggested Louis, ' that 's the 
best way to find out. If it explodes, it is 
detonated— if it doesn't, it isn't detonated. 
Quite simple.' 

But nobody showed any enthusiasm for 
Louis' method. 

* I '11 carry it part of the way, Jack,' I 
offered. 

'AH right, Mac, 'he replied, 'we'll spell each 
other off; it's a pretty heavy thing to carry.' 

I hoisted the shell on to my shoulder, but, 
as it had been raining recently and the duck- 
boards were wet and slippery, I stumbled 
forward. There was a rush — half a 
dozen pairs of hands seized hold of me 
to steady me! Nobody seemed disposed 
to take a chance with that shell. It 
might not be detonated, and then again it 
might! Preceded by Jack and followed by 
Louis, I staggered along on my adventurous 
journey back to headquarters. Every time 
I slipped, Louis rushed alongside of me. 
We came to a narrow part of the trench 
where it was impossible for two men to 
pass. Our passage was stubbornly dis- 
puted by two husky Canucks. 

' Gangway there,' shouted Jack, ' make 
way for a party. ' 



A FIND 37 

* Gangway yourself, we were here before 
you chaps,' came back the quick reply. 

* Whoever goes back, we don't,' an- 
nounced Jack, and started pushing his way 
past. 

I followed, staggering along under the 
burden of the Minnie shell. But our two 
friends were as determined as we were, and 
so we all got jammed tight in the trench. 
My hold upon the Minnie shell became 
loosened — it wobbled dangerously around on 
my shoulder. 

* For God's sake watch that you don't 
drop that shell, Mac, ' spoke up Louis, the 
diplomat, from behind; ' if that nose-cap 
hits the ground it will blow us all to blazes 
for sure.' 

' What d'you mean? ' asked one of the 
men, ' what shell is this ? ' 

* The shell right in front of your nose 
there,' replied Louis; * it's a German 
Minnie shell we found in a dug-out in No 
Man's Land. The fuse is so instantaneous 
that if you stroke the nose-cap with a 
feather the whole crowd of us would be 
blown sky-high.' 

' Is that right? ' 

* Sure thing,' chorused the three of us. 



38 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

' Just a minute, fellows; we '11 go back 
and make way for you/ one of them 
earnestly and genially assured us. 

* Thanks,' said Louis, ' we want to get 
rid of this thing as soon as we can. ' 

We passed on without any further trouble. 
Our next obstacle was a working party 
cleaning out the trench where it had been 
almost levelled during the day by Minnies. 

' Gangway, ' called out Jack. 

But the man swinging the pick failed to 
take any notice. 

' Gangway for a party,' called out Jack 
again. 

The man stopped and looked up. Like 
most members of a working party, he wasn't 
a bit inclined to be genial and obliging. 

* What party ? ' he growled. 

* Scouts.' 

' Well, you can wait ; we 'd be here all 
night if we let everybody pass that comes 
along. Wait until a crowd collects and then 
we let you pass. ' 

* Yes, but I can't wait,' I called out. 

' Why can't you? — afraid you '11 be late 
for the second house or something ? ' 

' Well, I don't feel like dangling this 
Minnie on my shoulder much longer, and 



A FIND 39 

if I drop the cursed thing it will blow us all 
to kingdom come.' 

* What fairy tale is this about a Minnie ? ' 
' No fairy tale at all. We found a dug- 
out full of Minnie shells out in No Man's 
Land and brought one in to be examined. 
Now, if you don't get out of the way I '11 
throw the thing at you. ' 

* Gangway for a carrying party,' he 
yelled. 

The cry was taken up and passed on, and 
we soon were clear of the working party. 
Nothing further eventful happened until we 
reached headquarters. Jack, who was 
carrying the shell now, staggered into head- 
quarters, while I remained discreetly on the 
outside of the blanket screening the C.O.'s 
compartment. 

* Well, Jackson,' I heard the CO. genially 
remark, * and what 's this you 've got with 
you.' 

* A Minnie shell, sir, ' replied Jack. 

* A Minnie shell ! ' inquired the CO. with 
interest, ' where on earth did you get it 
from? ' 

' Found it in No Man's Land, sir,' replied 
Jack, and then proceeded to give him the 
history of our discovery. 



40 SCOUTING THRILLS 

^ Um : most interesting, most interesting. ' 
And then, suspiciously, ' Is it detonated ? ' 

' Don't know, sir,' replied Jack. 

'What's that — you don't know I ' he 
roared; ' then how dare you bring that 
cursed thing in here ! take it out ! take it out 
at once ! ' 

I heard Jack getting ready to obey, then 
the CO. again : 

* I suppose you 're cold and wet, Jackson, ' 
he said relentingly. 

' Yes, sir,' said Jack, ' it's wet and muddy 
out to-night. ' 

' Well, you 'd better have a drink of some- 
thing warm, and then take that thing 
to somebody who knows something about it. ' 

I listened enviously as Jack rather noisily 
(for my benefit) partook of the C.O.'s hos- 
pitality. He came out, still carrying the 
Minnie. 

* The CO. doesn't want it,' he remarked 
tome. 

' So I understood from his remarks,' I 
replied. ' Where are we going to take it 
now? ' 

' I think we had better find the heavy 
trench mortar people; they might know 
something about it. ' 



A FIND 41 

* Yes, but do you know where they are ? ' 
' I know where the signallers' dug-out is 

at,' he replied. 

' All right, let Louis carry it now; ' so it 
was passed on to Louis. 

A few minutes later I felt my way down 
the steps of the dug-out mentioned. 

* This the heavy trench mortars ? ' 

* Yes, anything you want 1 ' 

* Do you know anything about Minnie 
shells?' 

'Yes, a little.' 

* Well, we have one here that we found 
in a dug-out in No Man's Land. There 
were about a score of them neatly piled in 
rows. We want to find out if it is detonated. 
Can you help us out 1 ' 

Just then Louis lurched in, and was pre- 
paring to drop the shell on to the ground 
when a corporal hastily interrupted : 

' Go easy, we have no desire to hit the 
roof in a hurry, ' he said. 

So Louis carefully deposited the shell on 
a bench in the dug-out. 

Nobody present had seen a similar shell, 
and there was a very marked lack of 
curiosity about it. We began to feel un- 
comfortable; it was apparent that, for an 



42 SCOUTING THRILLS 

obvious reason, we were not particularly 
wanted. Personally I was beginning to 
bate tbe sigbt of that shell; we bad been 
carrying it around for nearly two hours. 
Then I had a bright idea. 

^ I suppose you fellows would like to keep 
this shell to examine it in your spare time. 
Besides, brigade will want a report on it 
and we can refer them to you. ' 

' Oh no, we don't know anything about 
Boche Minnie shells; we think you had 
better take it away. We 're busy and the 
dug-out is crowded. ' 

Then we began to get stubborn. 

' Look here,' said Louis, * we don't deal 
in these things and we were told to bring it 
to you. Now you 've got it, we '11 be getting 
on back to our headquarters.' 

* No; I '11 tell you what to do with it,' 
began one smooth-tongued youth, * take 
it over to the ofi&cer, he knows all about these 
things. ' 

' We don't know where the officer is at,' 
interrupted Jack, ' and we are not going to 
look for him either. ' 

' That 's all right,' continued the youth, 
* I '11 take you over there.' 

We were defeated; there was nothing 



A FIND 43 

else for it but to pick up our shell and go ! 
Eager willing hands assisted me to get it 
on to my shoulder. The cold unfriendly 
atmosphere of the dug-out vanished, it be- 
came permeated with a genial warmth and 
good fellowship! A man preceded me up 
the steps with a light and two more followed 
close behind, in case I stumbled and fell. 
Once outside the dug-out we followed in the 
wake of our guide. 

' Look here, ' began Louis, ' let 's throw 
the cursed thing away. Nobody wants it, 
and we 're * all in ' with carrying it around.' 

'We can't do that,' argued Jack, 'the 
CO. will send us out to get another if we 
throw this one away.' 
[/ After some minutes we arrived at the 
officer's dug-out, which our guide indicated 
and then vanished. Jack went in to inter- 
view him, and soon reappeared bringing the 
officer with him. 

' That 's all right, boys; just throw the 
shell down outside and come on in, you must 
be cold and wet. ' 

What a relief it was to find some one who 
really said ' throw the shell down and leave 
it there ! ' We did so. 

As we were disappearing into the dug-out, 



44 SCOUTING THRILLS 

I heard Louis saying — ^partly to himself, 
' Well, I don't care what it is we find in 
No Man's Land again, if it weighs more than 
four ounces it stays right where it is at. 
I 've had enough of carting munitions 
around to-night to satisfy me for the rest 
of the war. ' 



Ill 

EXPLODING A MINE 

*LJALLO, old man, what are you look- 
'■' -'■ ing so serious about — aren't you 
getting enough fun out of the war ? ' 

* Keep quiet, I 'm listening. ' 

' Listening ! really, you are almost at the 
point of making a joke! Of all the faults 
to be found with the war the lack of noise 
isn't one of them. ' 

* Keep quiet, you fool, I think I can hear 
tapping. ' 

' Oh ! ' then I became serious, too. 

* There 's no doubt about it, he 's mining 
under here. ' 

* How thrilling! I hope he gives me time 
to clear out before he explodes it.' 

' Oh, it 's not a new discovery by any 
means. It has been reported before, and 
we 've been warned to expect a mine to go 
up here.' 

This is typical of the days when the * war 

45 



46 SCOUTING THRILLS 

of movement ' was upwards instead of 
onwards. Of all the weird and hair-raising 
experiences, the exploding of a mine had 
them all beaten. Suspense is said to be the 
most terrible and distressing of all human 
emotions, and the suspense of daily and 
hourly expecting a mine to go up could 
very properly be spelt with a big capital S. 
The winter of 1916 was a very active period 
for mining and counter-mining. Any one 
caring to look up the British Of&cial reports 
for that period will frequently come across 
the words: ' The enemy exploded a mine 
last night in the Ypres sector, our troops 
hold the crater ' ; or * We exploded a mine 
last night in the Hulluch sector, causing 
considerable damage to the enemy trenches ; 
during the night we repulsed three enemy 
attempts to seize the crater.' 

As soon as it was definitely established 
that the enemy were mining under a par- 
ticular sector of trench, then a counter- 
mine was promptly started, and it was 
usually a race as to who could get ready 
first. Often the mere fact of a counter- 
mine underneath the Boche mine galleries 
was sufficient to discourage the Boche and 
compel him to quit. Sometimes a tunnel 



EXPLODING A MINE 47 

was bored into the Boche galleries, and 
some strange and thrilling stories are told. 
But this could not beat the thrill (often 
accompanied by a chill!) that the garrison 
holding the sector of trench under which 
the mining was going on, usually experi- 
enced. The anxious moments came when 
all sounds of working stopped, then it was 
a fair guess that the Boche had all ready to 
explode his mine. Elaborate plans were 
made for seizing the crater in case the mine 
should be exploded. What were known as 
' crater parties ' were detailed. As soon as 
the mine was exploded these parties would 
rush forward and fight for the crater. The 
trench that was mined would be very lightly 
garrisoned, and the job of the garrison was a 
most hated and unenviable one. Did the 
mine go up they inevitably went with it. 
At other times the trench would be evacu- 
ated and ' flying sentries ' (men, usually in 
pairs) patrolled that piece of trench. Mining 
was really a most hateful and diabolical 
thing. Every new crater promptly received 
a name—' The Duke,' ' The Prince,' ' The 
Twins,' and, most appropriate of all, ' The 
Surprise ' crater. Their name was literally 
legion— they were named after towns, indi- 
viduals, and regiments. 



48 SCOUTING THEILLS 

This particular story deals with the ex- 
ploding of one of these diabolical mines, 
and the sequel to it. 

It was in the winter of '16-17 on the fa- 
mous Vimy Ridge. It was touch and go as 
to whether the Hun or ourselves got his mine 
finished first. The whole ridge was mined 
and counter-mined, but the chief interest 
for the moment was centred upon the sector 
we were holding. Each night, when on 
patrol, we received several rude jars as we 
crawled around on our stomachs. There 
would be a thud underneath us and the 
sensation that some one had given us a punch 
in the stomach. It was the miners blasting 
— whose, we could not say. The first time 
I felt it I thought it was the preliminary 
to the upheaval of earth, and my heart gave 
a great bound. I had a lightning vision of 
a rapid ascent, and bumping my head 
against the stars. But nothing sensa- 
tional followed. In the present instance 
our miners guaranteed us an easy first. 
However, I had a decided dislike to ' stick- 
ing around ' that piece of trench, under- 
neath which we could distinctly hear the 
mining activities going on. At last definite 
rumours began to circulate. 



EXPLODING A MINE 49 

^ Did you hear they were going to put up 
a mine to-morrow night *? ' was whispered 
around. Of course, everything had to 
happen the following day to give it a claim 
to our interest. Two or three days passed, 
so that the rumour became thoroughly dis- 
credited. Then it became more than a 
rumour; it became a certainty. Men were 
detailed to mysterious parties known by 
letters A, B, C, and so on. Headquarters 
buzzed with excitement, and large quan- 
tities of wire, picks, and shovels began to 
arrive. 

* The mine was ready! ' everybody swore 
to that. ' To-morrow night,' became the 
popular rumour again, and this time it 
proved to be correct. The exact time was 
now the mystery. To-morrow came and 
with it bits of information — real genuine 
information — began to leak out. One party 
had been detailed to rush and hold the 
crater ; another party was to string out wire 
from the lip of the crater back to our 
front line trench; other parties were to 
clear away the debris that would fall into 
the trenches; others were to rush up with 
bombs and ammunition to the crater party. 
The scouts were not allotted any definite 



50 SCOUTING THRILLS 

task in the scheme of things : ' ours not to 
do or die,' but simply to await for what 
might turn up. Rumours as to the amazing 
quantities of explosive carefully packed in 
the mine began to float around. The size 
of the crater was speculated upon. Then 
information of a raid by the battalion on 
our right, which was to co-ordinate with the 
exploding of the mine, reached our ears. We 
were all properly worked up, and excite- 
ment ran high. There was prevailing 
satisfaction and jubilation that our mine 
was ready first, and that the Hun was going 
to get the mauling. There was many a fer- 
vently expressed hope that it would blow 
them all sky-high out of the trenches. 
Scores of men swarmed around that after- 
noon, and everything was ready for the big 
show. At last the exact time was whispered 
around ' Three minutes to ten ! ' The mine, 
of course, was to be exploded by electricity ; 
some one would touch a button, then up 
would go the Hun and several thousand tons 
of Vimy Ridge would be propelled into the 
air. It appealed to the imagination. Down 
in the scouts' dug-out we discussed and re- 
discussed the matter. 

^ I suppose the old Hun will think 



EXPLODING A MINE 51 

it 's the end of the world,' commented 
Louis. 

* I schould tink so,' said Sharkmn the 
Russian, ' his peoples won't know where to 
look for him. ' 

It was a quiet, clear night, and the war 
went on as usual. Soon after dark rations 
came up, and we sat around and read the 
letters that arrived. There was a paper two 
days old, and there was a scramble for the 
latest news of the war. Our own ' big show ' 
suffered a temporary eclipse; it appeared 
so relatively insignificant alongside of the 
many big things reported. But it soon came 
back into its own. We talked of the 
time when a mine had unexpectedly gone 
up and we sat, wild-eyed and startled, until 
the dug-out ceased its swaying motion. 

About a quarter to ten Jack said, ' Who 's 
going outside to see the fun ? ' 

* I am, ' I replied. 

So we went outside and waited. We 
could picture the boys waiting back in the 
support and communication trenches, ready 
to rush forward on the separate jobs. We 
speculated who would get there first, the 
Hun's crater party or ours — we were willing 
to bet on our boys. The front line trenches 



52 SCOUTING THEILLS 

had, of course, been cleared of men, the 
danger from falling debris being almost as 
great as that from exploding shells and 
' Minnies. ' For an hour it would probably 
be touch and go as to who held the crater. 
The exploding of the mine wasn't the fun: 
it was what would happen afterwards, and it 
was in this that we got the comforting 
thought that we would get a chance to do 
our bit. 

We looked at our watches — ^it wanted only 
a minute! In sixty seconds from now the 
ground would rock and shake as if in the 
throes of a violent earthquake ! We strain 
our eyes in the direction where the fun is 
going to take place. Somewhere there is a 
man standing with his finger on an electric 
button, watch in his hand ; the second hand 
steals around — forty — thirty — twenty — ten 
— five seconds ! Then he presses the button. 
Standing there we see the result. There is 
a great blinding flash, a muffled noise, and 
the ground sways and trembles beneath our 
feet. 

' There it goes ! ' we whisper breathlessly. 
A pause, and then our shells come scream- 
ing over our heads — it is our artillery. To 
add to the dismay, confusion, and panic in 



EXPLODING A MINE 53 

the Boche lines, we send, crashing over, 
shrapnel and high explosive. It will give 
our men an advantage. We can picture 
them struggling forward in the darkness 
over the debris. They reached the lip of the 
crater and string themselves out on each 
side of it. They are there first and they are 
going to hold on. 

In the darkness of No Man's Land on our 
right, men are stumbling forward to surprise 
the Hun in his trench. It is a night of sur- 
prises for him. Right and left of the crater 
the Hun signals frantically for his artillery. 
Shells come shrieking over, exploding 
with a deafening roar. We have to side- 
step once or twice as they come crashing 
alongside. He pours them over into 
Zouave Valley just behind us. The noise 
is deafening, terrific! To the right we 
see an immense blinding flash. 

^ What can it be ? ' we ask. It is for all 
the world like the explosion of another mine. 
Later on we find that a Boche shell landed 
in the midst of nearly two score of our 
trench-mortar shells and exploded them 
all. 

After a time things quieten down and we 
return to our dug-out. 



54 SCOUTING THRILLS 

* Well, Louis, did you feel anything down 
here"? ' I asked. 

* Feel anything ! I should say so — almost 
pushed in the side of the dug-out. ' 

' The old Hun didn't take it all lying 
down. His artillery must have had their 
sleeves rolled up for a few minutes; he 
bounced a few shells pretty close to us. ' 

' I guess the mine also bounced a few of 
the Huns, ' said Louis ; ' some of them would 
get the shock of their lives to-night ! ' And 
so we carried on the conversation for 
another half hour, occasionally calling 
Sharkum's attention to the smoky, smoul- 
dering fire, to which he good-naturedly 
replied. 

' Well, if there's any peoples here can do 
better let him haf a try. ' 

We were speculating upon our chances of 
getting a look at the new mine crater, when 
* Toromy ' (now our officer) came into the 
dug-out. He was excited. 

* That was a good show to-night! We 
are holding the crater and have already 
beaten off one Hun attempt. They gave 
them an awful beating up. I 've been out 
a little way. It is a huge crater, bigger 
than any around here. It has blown up 



EXPLODINa A MINE 55 

part of the Hun front line. We could hear 
some of them trying to dig themselves out 
of a dug-out. Let everybody get ready and 
we '11 go up at once and wait for them 
coming out.' 

Immediately there was a hustle and 
bustle as we dived into our crawling suits, 
loaded our revolvers, and got a couple of 
bombs each. Soon afterwards we were 
hurrying up to the front line. We met 
a prisoner coming down; he had been 
blown up into the air when the mine ex- 
ploded, and when he came down he had 
got twisted in his direction. He had been 
seen wandering around just outside of our 
wire, and some good-natured Tommy went 
out and led him in by the hand. He was 
dazed and trembling, as he had every reason 
to be. 

We arrived at the crater, on the lip of 
which two or three posts had already been 
established. Looking down into the crater 
we could only see a yawning black hole, 
but the lips, several feet high, showed up 
white and distinct — the chalky earth of 
Vimy Ridge. 

WTiile Tommy had been away there had 
been another attempt to rush the crater, 



56 SCOUTING THEILLS 

and after a sharp fight with rifle and bomb, 
the Hun had again been beaten off. Seven 
of us started off on a patrol, crawling along 
the right side of the lip of the crater. We 
hoped, first of all, to get around to the Hun 
side to see what was happening there, and 
then to visit the entombed Huns, to see how 
they were getting on with their digging. 
Three of us went abreast — Tommy nearest 
the crater, Jack in the centre, and myself 
on the outside. Behind us came four other 
scouts. We could only move very slowly, 
for the Hun kept the place alight with 
flares. We had crawled forward to a point 
almost level with the Hun front line trench 
on our right. The trench which should 
have been there on our left had been blown 
up. We lay listening to the weird muffled 
knockings and scrapings that came from 
the imprisoned Huns, who were working 
hard to get out of their dug-out. Then we 
heard other significant sounds on our right, 
the squish! squish! of men dragging their 
feet through soft mud. It was the sound 
of Huns coming along their front line 
towards the crater! I moved over to Jack 
and touched his arm. 

' Did you hear that. Jack ? ' 



EXPLODING A MINE 57 

^ Yes, Mac, I heard ; just stay quiet and 
watcli. ' 

Almost opposite the point where we were 
lying there was another trench — a com- 
munication trench, leading into the front 
line and at right angles to it. Huns were 
also moving up along this. The sounds 
became more distinct, and presently we 
could see the steel helmets of the Huns. 

While we lay breathless watching them, 
the leading man stopped at the junction of 
the communication trench with the front 
line. The others following him closed up, 
until there was an interval of no more than 
two feet between them. Then very de- 
liberately (for I was not more than twenty 
yards from the nearest Hun, and therefore 
could plainly see them by the frequent 
flickering lights of the flares) each man 
carefully raised his rifle, and sighted it in 
our direction! A queer, creepy sensation 
ran through me — it was for all the world 
like facing a firing squad ! 

* Throw your bombs! ' rang out Tommy's 
voice. 

The scouts in the rear promptly threw 
their bombs, while I let blaze with my 
revolver. Almost simultaneously nearly 



58 SCOUTING THRILLS 

thirty rifles rang out and the bullets pinged 
in around us. Then four bombs viciously 
exploded amongst and around the Huns, 
one bomb neatly dropping into the trench 
amongst them. The Huns disappeared 
from view, and then bobbed up again. 
Several of them promptly threw bombs 
back at us. I felt a rap on the head as if 
a mule had kicked me, and then the warm 
blood began trickling down the side of my 
face and into my right eye. I blinked and 
pulled the trigger of my revolver again. 
Then more of our bombs came singing over 
my head and burst amongst the Huns. 
This time it was too mucli for them. Again 
they disappeared and remained out of sight. 
I was lying there, dazed and stunned, when 
I felt Jack crawl up alongside of me. 

^ We 'd better be getting back in, Mac, 
the rest of them have gone back for more 
bombs.' 

' All right, ' I replied, ' you lead the way ; 
I 'm hit and feel a bit shaky. ' 

* All right, Mac, when I give the word get 
up and run for the crater and roll into that.' 

I waited a few seconds and then heard 
Jack whisper, ^ Come on, Mac, run for it! ' 

I scrambled to my feet, swayed a little 



EXPLODING A MINE 59 

from dizziness, and then started oH after 
Jack. Then, horror of horrors, a flare light 
was shot up from a few yards behind us. 
It broke into a bright white light — as bright 
as noon-day. There was nothing for it but 
to keep on heading for the crater, which was 
only a few strides away. 

Ping! ping! came the bullets after us. 
I saw Jack disappear in front of me, as he 
tumbled headlong into the crater. I dived 
after him, and down I went into the black- 
ness, it seemed ages before I hit the bottom 
with a terrible crash. Jack was imme- 
diately alongside of me helping me to 
my feet. 

* How d'you feel, Mac? ' he asked. 

* Oh ! just a bit dizzy, thanks ; rather close 
shave, eh? ' 

* Yes, it was. I didn't realise for a minute 
or two that we were out there alone, 
though I heard Tommy giving the word 
to go back for more bombs. ' 

The blood continued to run down my face, 
almost blinding me. 

* Oh, I wouldn't half like to take a crack 
at the Hun that did this,' I said, as we 
proceeded to climb out of the crater. 
When we climbed out Tommy was there. 



60 SCOUTING THRILLS 

He at once ordered me to report to the 
dressing station and sent a scout back with 
me. 

Twelve hours later I was at the casualty 
clearing station. The M.O. came around 
to the cot I was in. 

^ Hello ! you one of the boys wounded at 
the ridge last night ? ' 

^ Yes, sir, I was there.' 

* You must have got an awful jar when 
the mine went up ? ' 

* Oh, it wasn't too bad, sir.' 

^ Well, it nearly shook the windows out 
here, and this is twenty miles back. ' 

So that was another of the rumours come 
true: there had been a lot of explosives in 
that mine. I rather thought so myself 
when I tumbled into the hole it made ! 



IV 
EAID RECONNAISSANCES 

"171^ E were all excited and indignant. 
^ ^ News had just arrived that the 
Hun had plucked up enough courage to raid 
the battalion on our right and had got a 
prisoner. Of course he had not had things all 
his own way. After killing some and wound- 
ing the remainder of a Lewis gun team, he 
had made off with the gun, only to be chased 
across No Man's Land and compelled to drop 
the gun and run to safety. He had got his 
prisoner by his favourite trick of speaking 
in English. A German officer and two men 
had got into a quiet part of the trench which 
had been evacuated owing to the severity 
of the meinenwerfer fire in that sector. 
They had waylaid a sergeant coming along 
this part and had taken him off his guard 
by speaking a few words of good English. 
He realised — too late — ^who they were, but 

61 



62 SCOUTING THRILLS 

in time enougli to fire his Verry light pistol 
in the face of one of his would-be cajjtors, 
thereby greatly damaging the Hun's fea- 
tures and bringing his life to a sudden and 
untimely end. (This German's body was 
found in the trench the following morning.) 
The sergeant was, however, taken prisoner. 

I was corporal in charge of the scouts at 
that time, and, as the officer and scout ser- 
geant were away, the CO. sent for me. 

' I have a nice little job for you to-night, 
corporal,' he said when I reported at head- 
quarters. ' I suppose you have heard what 
happened last night.' 

' Yes, sir, ' I replied. 

' Well, just come and look over this latest 
map of No Man 's Land which has arrived 
from brigade, and I '11 show you what I want 
your scouts to do to-night.' 

I did so, and he jjointed out to me a place 
on the map where a German listening jjost 
had been definitely located. 

^ Now, I want you to find out to-night if 
you can get through his wire and into that 
j)Ost. Don't go in yourself; just report to 
me the chances of getting in and we '11 ar- 
range details later on. We want to do 
some little stunt in retaliation for what he 



EAID EECONNAISSANCES 63 

did last night to the battalion on our 
right. ' 

' We '11 do the best we can, sir/ I replied, 
saluted and left headquarters. I went back 
to our dug-out, and explained to the rest of 
the scouts what the night's work was to be. 
Everybody was whole-heartedly glad that 
something was to be done in retaliation for 
the temerity of the Hun on the previous 
night. 

About ten o'clock that night six of us left 
our trench, crawled through the maze of 
wire in front of it, and made off in the 
direction of the unsuspecting German listen- 
ing-post. It had been raining heavily 
recently and the ground was wet and muddy. 
It was cold and very disagreeable and 
* Heinie ' was nervous ; he kept the place 
continually alight with numerous Yerry 
lights. His machine-guns were active and 
constantly swept across No Man's Land — 
the bullets whizzing over our heads or 
plunking into the ground near to us. In 
approaching the listening-post we had to 
crawl down a slight dip in the ground im- 
mediately in front of it. His usual tactics 
in providing ample protection for his out- 
posts was never better exemplified than in 



64 SCOUTING THEILLS 

the present instance. Three machine guns 
alternately swept the ground in front of his 
listening-post, and I can tell you that we 
had enough thrills in half an hour then to 
satisfy any one for a lifetime. It was plunk ! 
plunk! all the time. He simply sprinkled 
the ground with machine-gun bullets. We 
got up to his wire, and could distinctly hear 
the sentry in the listening-post. He was 
in a bit of a trench leading out from the 
front line, and we could hear him stamping 
his feet and clapping his hands together to 
keep himself warm. He was protected by 
a mass of wire at least forty feet in depth, 
and the prospect of ever getting near enough 
to grab him was very remote. We carefully 
withdrew and returned into our own trench 
and back to headquarters. I immediately 
reported to the CO. and gave him a full ac- 
count of what we had both seen and 
heard. 

' Well, that doesn't look very promising, 
corporal ; we '11 have to think out some- 
thing better for to-morrow night. ' 

I returned to the scouts' dug-out, rolled 
into my blanket, and was soon fast asleep. 
A few hours later I was awakened by one of 
the scouts. 



RAID RECONNAISSANCES 65 

^ Say, corp, did you hear the latest ? ' 
^ No, haven't heard anything for several 

hours; what is the latest? ' I inquired 

sleepily. 

* Heinie grabbed one of our listening- 
posts last night, and got away with two of 
our men. ' 

I was wide awake now. This was adding 
insult to injury. 

' How on earth did he do it ?' I asked. 

* Made a raid just before daybreak.' 

* What post did he get ? ' 

^ The one nearest to the Double Crassier.'^ 

* Well, we must go up and find out all 
we can about it. If I know anything, 
^ Heinie ' has let himself in for a lot of 
trouble this time. ' 

But before we were ready to go a runner 
came with a message for me to report to 
headquarters at once. When I arrived 
there I found the CO. in a towering 
rage. 

* The blighters put one over on us last 
night, corporal, and we are going to make 
him pay for it.' He emphasised this with 
a resounding whack on the table. There 

1 Two slag-heaps made famous by the fierce fighting for them 
at the battle of Loos. 



66 SCOUTING THRILLS 

was no mistaking Ms feelings about the 
matter. 

^ This time we are going to organise 
something big. The Hun has got to be 
taught a lesson for this. I '11 have plenty 
of work for you and your scouts to do to- 
night. In the meantime you had better go 
up to the front line and get all the particu- 
lars you can, and report to me as soon as you 
get back.' 

I replied that I was just about to go up 
to the front line for this purpose when he 
had sent for me. I then left headquarters 
and soon afterwards, in the company of 
another scout, I went up to the front line 
to find out all that I could about the raid. 
We had posts on the Double Grassier — so 
had the Hun, his nearest being about thirty 
yards from ours. From our posts we had 
a splendid view of No Man's Land and of 
his trenches. It appeared that in the dim 
light of dawn there had been a sharp and 
heavy bombardment which had isolated the 
listening-post; then a party of what was 
roughly estimated to be about thirty Huns 
had rushed it. There had been a sharp 
skirmish, a few rifle shots, and the Huns 
then disappeared. By the time assistance 



EAID EECONNAISSANCES 67 

had been sent to the listening-post, the 
raiders had gone. One of the sentry group 
had been killed, one wounded and two (one 
of them wounded) had been taken prisoners. 
From the Grassier we could see tapes 
stretching from the German trench to within 
a few yards of the listening-post. Probably 
one or two men had laid the tapes an hour 
or two previous to the raid, and the raiding 
party had crawled along them, concealing 
themselves in shell holes several minutes 
before the bombardment started. If, in 
our patrol of the previous night, we had 
gone about a hundred yards further north 
we should have probably met these tape- 
layers. We felt like kicking ourselves when 
we thought of it. Soon after we had re- 
turned to headquarters the CO. sent for 
me. He had been to brigade, and there 
a definite and quite ambitious plan for a 
raid had been evolved. A party from the 
battalion on our right, who had lost the 
sergeant, and a party from our battalion, 
were going to raid the German trenches. 
The artillery had already received orders to 
cut the wire on a fairly large frontage. 

* Your work,' said the CO. to me, * will 
be to go out each night and examine the 



68 SCOUTING THRILLS 

enemy wire for gaps, reporting on what has 
been accomplished by the artillery in their 
wire-cutting operations. The artillery have 
already started this afternoon, and before 
taking your patrol out to-night you will 
report to me and I will show you on the 
map where I want you to go.' 

I went back to my dug-out, had a bit of 
supper, and waited for the mail to arrive. 
After the excitement of receiving letters had 
died down, six of us got ready for our patrol. 
I reported at headquarters, received my in- 
structions, and, as the trenches were knee- 
deep in mud, we went overland to the front 
line. After warning the sentries that a 
patrol was going out, we climbed out of our 
trench and over the exceedingly thick wire 
in front of it and out into No Man's Land. 
As was our custom, we lay quiet for several 
minutes listening. Except for an occasional 
shell whistling overhead, everything was 
perfectly quiet. The wire we had to ex- 
amine was about three hundred yards from 
our trench, so we pushed on fairly rapidly, 
for we knew what a slow and difficult job 
it was to crawl around amongst the enemy 
wire. We were making good progress, and 
had reached to within about thirty yards of 



EAID RECONNAISSANCES 69 

the German wire when some one caught his 
foot in some old wire. The sound was un- 
mistakable—so also was the Huns' reply to 
it. Cutting wire invariably means one thing 
—a raid, and the German, if never very 
brave, was always exceedingly wise. The 
volley of bombs that fell into the wire on 
our left told us that our coming was neither 
unexpected nor unprepared for. Immedi- 
ately his S.O.S. lights went up— beautifully 
coloured, significant lights. His artillery 
replied with amazing and disconcerting 
promptitude, and soon we were in the 
midst of screaming, bursting shells.' We 
began to withdraw out of range of the Boche 
artillery fire, when the battalion on our 
right, apparently thinking that the Boche 
had serious intentions of attempting to re- 
peat his former successes, sent up a call for 
our artillery, and our artillery were no 
slackers. They promptly came down with 
a bang. Imagine how happy we were! 
Shells in front of us, shells behind us, shells 
all around us ! A screaming, deafening din 
and noise! We crawled into a shell-hole 

1 A protective barrage, such as the S.O.S. signal calls for, was 
usually laid down about one hundred yardsin front of the first- 
line trench. 



70 SCOUTING THRILLS 

and waited. We splendidly illustrated 
Bairnsfather's picture: 'If you can find 
a better 'ole, go to it! ' Tlie sky was a 
blaze of light; S.O.S.'s were going up along 
the whole front. We could see them spread- 
ing to the right as far as Vimy, and to the 
left as far as Loos. On the whole length of 
this front both our own and the Boche 
artillery blazed away, and all because 
a scout had caught his foot in some 
wire ! 

In the meantime our own position was 
most unenviable — it was useless to move, 
and all we could do was to crouch in a shell- 
hole. Ten times in a minute we ducked; 
figuratively speaking we died several hun- 
dred deaths that night, for each screaming 
shell passing so closely overhead had the 
menace of death in it. After half an hour's 
deafening din things began to quieten down 
and we began to breathe more freely. At 
last there was perfect stiUness. Not one of 
us hit! It was useless to continue our 
reconnaissance for an hour or two, so we 
returned to our own trench. Everybody 
was amazed to see us all returning with a 
whole skin. They had heard the bombing 
and, of course, the subsequent artillery fire, 



RAID RECONNAISANCES 71 

with scores of shells exploding in No Man's 
Land. 

After resting for a while we started out 
again, moving cautiously and quietly until 
we got up to the German wire. We moved 
along the outside of it, frequently stopping 
and waiting for a flare light to give us an 
opportunity for a good look at the wire. It 
was damaged, but there were no gaps. It 
was almost daylight when we got back into 
our own trench, and quite daylight by the 
time we got to headquarters. I reported 
at once to the CO., told him of the diffi- 
culties we had had, and the information we 
had eventually secured. 

* We '11 try to get more artillery on to that 
wire to-day, my boy ; you '11 find some gaps 
in it to-night, I hope. I want a writ- 
ten report of your patrol at once, I 
want to send a copy of it to brigade — ^it 
will induce them to get more artillery on 
to that wire.' 

I went back to my dug-out, wrote the 
report, handed it in to headquarters, and 
then had some breakfast, followed by three 
to four hours' sleep. In the afternoon we 
went up to our best O.P., and from there 
watched the artillery and trench-mortar 



72 SCOUTING THRILLS 

shells bursting in the German wire. They 
were ripping it up beautifully, gaily blowing 
it sky-high in places. 

The orders for the patrol were the same 
as the previous night. The artillery had 
concentrated on one gap, the location of 
which the; CO. gave me. We were going 
to see if,ithere was a clean road through. 
We worked slowly and cautiously, reached 
the Boche wire, saw a good clean gap 
several yards wide, crawled up through it 
and back out again. The patrol was a 
laborious and satisfying one: it lasted for 
several hours. I reported back to the CO. 

' There is a good clean gap for the party 
on the right, sir.' 

' Good, we '11 have the other one attended 
to to-day. ' 

We were dog-tired. We had crawled for 
hours over wet, muddy ground, and it was 
a cold night. The next afternoon we again 
watched the shells dropping into the German 
wire, and at night went out to examine the 
gap for the left party. We again worked 
slowly and with the most extreme caution. 
The wire here had been a good deal thicker 
and heavier, and while a gap had been made 
there were several fairly large bundles of 



RAID RECONNAISSANCES 73 

wire lying around, blown clean out of the 
ground. It was awfully difficult to work 
up through the gap, the bundles of wire in 
front of us that were obstacles to our prog- 
ress, having to be carefully moved over to 
one side. I had almost got through the gap, 
but a big roll of loose wire lay in front of 
me. Slowly and patiently I 'pushed it to 
one side, and was passing it when my foot 
caught it, making a very slight noise. Not 
more than twelve feet away I could see, 
quite distinctly, the parapet of the German 
trench. I moved forward a few feet into 
the protection of a shell-hole, and waited. 
Had I been heard? I did not wait long in 
suspense. I heard sounds of movement 
in the trench in front of me, and soon after- 
wards the head and shoulders of a German 
appeared. He paused a moment to listen. 
He had in his hand what appeared to me 
to be a pistol. He raised it carefully and 
fired! There was a blinding flash — a loud 
report — it was a flare light! As it broke 
into a bright white light, I felt as though 
a hundred searchlights were being concen- 
trated upon me. I had ample time to study 
the typical German face of the flare- 
pistol man. It was smooth, fat and round, 



74 SCOUTING THEILLS 

the roundness being emphasised by the 
small peakless cloth cap he was wearing. 
He would be a man close upon forty years 
of age. He looked apprehensively around. 
I felt an almost irrepressible desire to say 
Boo! I am sure he would have fainted! 
The light slowly flickered out and he dis- 
appeared into the trench. I backed out 
through the gap, and when clear of the 
German wire, we got up and walked back 
across No Man's Land into our own trench. 
Another tedious patrol of several hours was 
finished. We were cold and shivering when 
we dropped into our own trench. When 
we got back to headquarters I wrote my 
report and sent it in to the CO. A few 
hours later he sent for me. 

* You are quite sure those gaps are there, 
corporal, and that the parties will have no 
trouble getting through them ? ' 

* Quite sure, sir, we have been through 
both of them. ' 

* Very good, then. Now the zero hour 
for this raid is two o'clock to-morrow 
morning. I have a lot of work for your 
scouts which must be done to-night. You 
will report here at six o 'clock, and you will 
be supplied with wire-cutters — to cut gaps 



RAID EECONNAISSANCES 75 

through our own wire — and with rolls of 
white tape which you will take out to the 
assembly positions before the parties go out. 
It will act as a guide to them. Then at the 
zero hour two scouts with each party will 
go forward with the tapes as far as the 
German trench, being closely followed by the 
raiding party. However, you will get fuller 
written instructions later on.' 

When I left headquarters, I called at the 
dressing station to see if I could get some- 
thing from the medical officer to take away 
the wretched dizzy feeling I was suffering 
from. A medical orderly took my tempera- 
ture and found it to be 102°. The M.O. gave 
me some tablets, and I was hoping I 
would be feeling a little fitter for the 
night's work. At night we got our wire- 
cutters and cut the necessary * lanes ' in 
the wire, cutting them in zig-zag fashion. 
We also went out on a quick patrol to see if 
the Germans were working to repair the 
damage done to the wire. We found every- 
thing quiet. I was feeling wretchedly ill 
and feverish when I reported back to head- 
quarters. I stood waiting while the second- 
in-command (and CO. of the raid) read 
over to me the operation order for the raid, 



76 SCOUTING THRILLS 

before giving me a copy for the information 
of the scouts. The heat added the final 
touch to my physical exhaustion. Just as 
I reached out to take my copy of the opera- 
tion order, I felt myself reeling, everything 
became a blank, and when I woke up again, 
I was lying on the floor with several people 
solicitously attending to me. To my bitter 
disappointment the CO. forbade my taking 
any further part in the operations. I was 
taken to the dressing-station, wrapped up 
in a blanket, and told to go to sleep. About 
3.30 the following morning one of the boys 
woke me up to tell me of the success of the 
raid. 

A thick mist had come up about midnight 
which had proved of great advantage to the 
raiding parties. They had been able to 
assemble without having been seen or 
heard. Our artillery barrage had been 
perfect. The scouts had gone forward with 
the tapes, followed by the raiders, who had 
got into the enemy trench without meeting 
with much opposition. The speed of the 
raiders had completely taken the Boche by 
surprise. They were in and out of his 
trench in five minutes, and brought back 
twelve husky prisoners. The mist had pre- 



RAID RECONNAISSANCES 77 

vented the German artillery observers from 
seeing the S.O.S. lights sent up, and the 
raid was over and every one back in our 
trenches before a shell came over. 

We were all delighted with the results. 
The scouts received special mention in 
orders for the work they did, and we went 
back to the rest billets with the satisfied 
feeling that the Hun had been taught his 
lesson. 



PULLING THE STRING 

n^HIS story is written chiefly to show 
'- the humour that was frequently in- 
troduced into the game of making war. It 
made the life not only bearable but hugely 
enjoyable. Many a joke was practised on 
the Hun to test his sense of humour, in 
which, by the way, he was found wanting. 
One could never picture him with the cheer- 
ful, spontaneous grin of the Tommy — ^he 
was either servile or surly. It was this 
well-known lack of a sense of humour that 
made a joke practised upon him all the more 
enjoyable — ^his discomfiture was guaranteed 
beforehand. 

Though this incident was actually the 
work of the scouts, it is not a scouting 
episode. It emphasises the co-operation 
between the scouts and observers. The 
observer collected his information in the 

78 



PULLING THE STRING 79 

daylight, while the scout collected his in- 
formation in the dark. Frequently, the 
scout was sent out to confirm the report 
of the observer, and often our patrols were 
decided upon after the observers had handed 
in their reports. 

They enjoyed, from their specially sited 
and constructed O.P.'s, unique opportuni- 
ties for studying the movements and habits 
of the Boche. Wonderful and ingenious sub- 
terfuges were employed to spy out the 
movements of the ever-active Hun, the 
most popular of which was the dummy tree. 
A tree, standing so that, from its branches 
(if it was lucky enough to have any), one 
commanded an extensive view of the enemy 
lines, would be carefully sketched in its 
every detail. A few days later an exact 
replica of it would arrive. At night the 
real tree would be dug out and the dummy, 
having inside of its innocent looking bark 
a steel frame, supporting a seat for an 
observer and a ladder leading up to it, 
would take its place. 

The Hun never guessed what a faithful 
history of his every movement was being 
daily sent up to our Intelligence Staff. 
Ruined buildings were a godsend to the 



80 SCOUTING THEILLS 

energetic observer. From these places the 
comings in and goings out of the Hun were 
daily taken note of, to his eventual discom- 
fort and sorrow. A road was known to be 
in frequent and continual use, and a re- 
port would come in : 

' Much individual movement along the 
Lens-Douai Road. ' 

This information would finally reach 
artillery headquarters, and harassing fire 
(a few rounds eyevj fifteen minutes or so) 
would be directed on that road at night — 
for a road used by a few men during the 
day would be used by scores of men at 
night. Carrying parties, ration parties, 
transport, reliefs coming in and going 
out, all would find this attention both demor- 
alising and destructive. 

Then again, 

* An overland route is in use from Pots- 
dam Trench to HohenzoUern Redoubt.' 

The machine gunners would have this 
information turned over to them, and would 
fire bursts at intervals — disconcerting to the 
night-travelling Hun. 

The camouflaged O.P. was always a 
powerful factor in the successful waging of 
war. To see your enemy is one of the most 



PULLING THE STRING 81 

interesting and thrilling of all war experi- 
ences. To be able to sit and calmly watch 
his movements was always an enjoyable 
way of spending a few hours. 

The incident of this story happened in the 
winter time when the snow — deep, crisp, 
and hard — ^lay on the ground. At such 
times patrolling was next to impossible, 
especially when, as in the present instance, 
the nights were brilliantly moonlight. 
Occasionally white crawling suits would be 
used to tone with the surrounding white- 
ness. There is at least one instance where 
an enterprising battalion clothed its raiding 
party in white and completely surprised the 
Boche. But patrolling, unless for very 
special reasons, was very seldom done on 
a moonlight night with the snow on the 
ground. 

Two nights before the incident of this 
story we had had a rather exciting time. 
An artillery officer, anxious to have a piece 
of Boche wire for a souvenir, had appealed 
to Tommy, and Tommy had arranged to 
take him out to get it. In all, four of us 
went out. It was bitterly cold, and the 
snow glistened in the brilliancy of the 
moonlight. The Boche wire was nearly 



82 SCOUTING THRILLS 

two hundred and fifty yards away. We 
walked for some considerable distance and 
then approached the wire more cautiously. 
Tommy whispered to me : 

' Stay here while the artillery officer and 
myself go forward.' 

So two of us remained behind, waiting. 
Several minutes passed. I got impatient 
and announced my intention to go in search 
of Tommy. I crawled forward and came 
up to them lying close to the German wire. 
The artillery officer had had his wish 
realised, for he had broken off a piece of 
Hun wire. I crawled up to where Tommy 
was lying. He touched my arm. 

' Do you see the Boche listening-post, just 
inside of that wire ? ' 

I looked in the direction indicated, and 
there was the Boche — thirty yards away — 
his steel helmet glistening in the moonlight. 
He was moving his head from side to side, 
I could also hear him alternately stamping 
his right and then his left foot as he en- 
deavored to keep warm. Tommy touched 
my arm again. 

^ Do you see that bent iron stake? I 'm 
going to break that off and take it back 
with me. ' 



PULLING THE STRING 83 

* Why n asked. 

' Oh, only for the fun of the thing. ' 
He crawled over to it, grasped hold of it 
and tried to break it off. He didn't succeed, 
so stood up to do it. He bent his whole 
weight to it but it still resisted. He be- 
came still more energetic and wrestled with 
the thing. I became alarmed. The Hun 
sentry had heard, the movement of his 
head had stopped. Tommy made a final 
desperate eifort, lost his balance, swung 
round, and went crashing into the Hun 
wire! Away went the Hun sentry patter- 
ing down the duck-boards in a mighty 
haste to give the alarm. Tommy quickly 
disentangled himself. 

* Quick, ' he said, * run for it before he can 
give the alarm. ' 

I got up and ran, and had only gone a few 
yards when I went crashing into some 
loose wire, getting myself hopelessly en- 
tangled. Tommy and the artillery officer 
were speeding away ahead of me. I 
obtained my release at the expense of a 
perfectly good pair of slacks, and went 
racing after them. I had almost reached 
them when they both went crashing down 
in front of me. I had no time to pull up, 



84 SCOUTING THRILLS 

so piled in on top of them. We were all 
quickly on our feet, and a few yards further 
on the black mass of our wire showed up. 
It was thick and heavy ; ' over the top ' 
was the best way to negotiate this, so 
giving a whoop we made a spring at it. 
Some got over and some didn't; I didn't! 
I landed on top of it! More ripping of 
good clothes and then I tumbled into our 
trench. It was a most amusing time, and 
we were all laughing heartily when the Hun, 
now thoroughly alarmed, opened up with 
three machine guns — sweeping across No 
Man's Land. 

The next day the observers handed in a 
report : 

' A beaten path observed across the snow 
leading from the German support line to 
the Double Grassier.' That was the advan- 
tage of a snowfall; it yielded information 
of the enemy routes. (He, of course, got 
the same information about us.) Aeroplane 
photographs, taken while the snow was on 
the ground, yielded a mass of information. 

We pondered over the observers' report, 
and decided, instead of a patrol, to go up 
and find out if anything was to be seen from 
the Double Grassier. The Double Grassier 



PULLING THE STEING 85 

was a twin slag-heap, part of which, at 
that time, was held by us and part by the 
Boche. It provided excellent observation, 
and for that reason was usually a most 
unhealthy spot. Twenty-five yards from 
our most forward post was a Boche bomb- 
ing-post; it was an occasional early morn- 
ing form of recreation for these bombing- 
posts to exchange bombs. The Boche had a 
very ingenious device for protecting his 
bombing-post. Over the top of it he had 
spread ordinary chicken wire so that bombs, 
dropping on top of this, bounced off and 
rolled to one side before exploding. He had 
one small opening through which he could 
throw his bombs, but too small for even 
an expert thrower, at that distance, and 
under these conditions, to even hope to 
drop a bomb through. A small trench, 
dug into the side of the Grassier, led up 
to this post. At the bottom of the Grassier 
he had another post, a night post. The 
one on the Grassier was both a day and 
night post. 

Shortly after the Vimy Ridge attack, 
when our line was carried forward several 
thousand yards, I got an opportunity to 
examine this Grassier post of his. Deep 



86 SCOUTING THRILLS 

down into the slag-heap he had dug a 
tunnel, fairly commodious, so that his 
men could comfortably man the post and 
have good protection in case of a heavy 
bombardment. 

We arrived at the Grassier shortly before 
eight o'clock that night — it was brilliantly 
moonlight. We spoke to the sentry on duty 
in our bombing-post. 

* Have you seen any Huns moving about 
down there? ' indicating the Boche lines at 
the bottom of the Grassier. 

' Yes,' he answered eagerly, * we noticed 
them last night for the first time. About 
every two hours seven of them (we counted 
them) came overland from a trench ; three 
of them got down into the trench at the 
bottom of the Grassier, while four of them 
went on towards the Grassier. We lost 
sight of them, but soon afterwards saw four 
Huns coming away from there; they 
were then joined by three Huns who 
climbed out of the trench and the seven of 
them, in single file, went back to the support 
trench. ' 

' Well,' said Jack, * this certainly sounds 
interesting; we '11 stick around and see 
if the same thing happens to-night. ' 



PULLING THE STRING 87 

We waited for a few minutes, and then 
Jack whispered excitedly: 

* Here they are, Mac, you can see them 
easily. They are coming towards the 
Grassier. ' 

I looked, and had no difficulty in seeing 
them. They came unconcernedly on until 
they reached their front line. The first 
three dropped into the trench, while the 
remainder went on — disappearing into the 
trench that led up to the Grassier post. 
A few minutes later four of them appeared 
coming from the Grassier; they were joined 
by three from the trench, and the seven con- 
tinued their journey back to the support 
line. It was all exactly as the sentry 
described it. 

* What time is it, Mac ^ ' asked Jack. 

* Nearly ten minutes past eight,' I re- 
plied. 

* Well, we '11 wait here for a couple of 
hours or so to see if the same thing happens 
again. There 's no doubt about what it 
is ; it is the relief for his two outposts. I '11 
bet anything this kind of thing is going on 
all night. ' 

* No doubt about it, ' I agreed. 

* If we could only get some machine guns 



88 SCOUTING THRILLS 

on to him. we couldn't half give him a 
lively time, ' said J ack. 

' Yes, but I don't suppose we could use 
any of the guns around here. ' 

* No,' said Jack, ' they don't want to fire 
except in the case of a raid or an attack. If 
he spots their emplacements he '11 drop 

* Minnies ' into them. But I '11 see Tommy 
and we '11 try to work out some scheme for 
giving these blighters a warm time. ' 

The Hun very thoughtfully enlivened 
our period of waiting by planting three 

* Minnies ' so close to us that we ahnost 
got underneath them. When the excite- 
ment and noise had died down Jack turned 
to me: 

' What 's the time now, Mac? ' he asked. 

* Ten minutes to ten. ' 

' They '11 be bringing along another relief 
soon. ' 

Promptly at ten (for the Hun loved to be 
methodical) seven men reappeared, coming 
overland towards the Grassier. The same 
proceeding followed as took place two hours 
earlier. 

Jack turned to the sentry. 

* Will you tell whoever relieves you to 
watch out for these reliefs so that we can 



PULLING THE STRING 89 

find out if this kind of thing goes on all 
night? ' 

The sentry promised to do so, so we went 
back to headquarters. 

' If we can fix up something, Mac,' said 
Jack as we were returning, ' we can give 
them a warm time to-morrow night.' 

Tommy, upon learning from Jack the 
details of the Hun activity, waxed enthusi- 
astic over the possibilities of giving the Hun 
* a warm time. ' 

A scheme was outlined, and Jack gave 
me the details of it in the early hours of the 
morning. 

' Well, Mac,' he said, * if this little game 
works, we are going to see some fun. 
Tommy is going to arrange for the assist- 
ance of the brigade machine gunners, who 
have gun emplacements in that slag-heap 
about five hundred yards behind our front 
line. We are going to fix up a signalling 
lamp near the foot of the Grassier. This 
lamp will be sited so as to face the machine 
gunners. A signaller will be on duty at 
the lamp, and he will have a scout with him 
who will have one end of a long piece of sig- 
nalling wire in his hand. The other end 
will be in the bombing-post on the 



90 SCOUTING THEILLS 

Grassier, and we will have that. One pull 
on the wire is the signal to the man at the 
lamp to flash his lamp once. This is the 
signal to the machine gunners to open up 
(they know where to fire) with their guns. 
Two pulls (two flashes) is the signal to 
elevate (we shall be able to see how they 
are shooting) ; three pulls — the signal to 
depress; four pulls — "cease fire." What 
do you think about it ? ' 

' Sounds good to me — if only the machine 
gunners don't shoot all over the place.' 

* Oh, I don't think that will happen. The 
machine-gun ofiicer is coming along to-day 
and they will work the thing out exactly ; in 
any case, we should, by our signals, soon get 
them on to the target. ' 

* I don't suppose the Hun will stop 
coming after his first fright ? ' I queried. 

* I guess not; he 's likely been using that 
route for ages. He '11 stick to it for a little 
while anyway. ' 

We had a busy time the next day getting 
our apparatus in working order. We found 
that we should have to relay our signals 
back to avoid any possibility of the wire 
getting caught and failing to act. No time 
must be lost if we wanted our scheme to 



PULLING THE STRING 91 

be a success, for our target was only visible 
for two or three minutes. So, half-way 
down from the bombing-post to the lamp 
we decided to place Sharkum. He would 
get our signal and pass it on to the scout 
on duty with the signaller. When we had 
our apparatus set up we tested it and found 
it worked smoothly, the machine gunners 
being easily able, even in the daylight, to 
see the flash of the Lucas lamp. 

At 7.30 that night. Jack, Louis, and my- 
self were standing in our bombing-post 
impatiently waiting for eight o'clock to 
arrive. Jack and I were to watch, and 
Louis was to do the signalling. Eight 
o'clock found Jack and myself straining our 
eyes to catch a glimpse of the Huns. 

* Here they come, Mac,' whispered Jack. 

^ One pull, Louis,' I whispered back. 
Louis put his back into it — I'm sure he must 
have pulled Sharkum off his feet! The 
Huns came sauntering forward, while 
we fairly danced with excitement and glee. 
Had the gunners got the signal? When 
would they fire? It seemed ages, though 
in reality it was only a few seconds, be- 
fore we heard the rattle of the machine 
gun. 



92 SCOUTING THRILLS 

Down went the Huns! Had we got 
them all? Surely not! The machine gun 
finished its burst. A pause, and up jumped 
seven lively Huns ! 

^ Too high/ whispered Jack in disgust. 

^ Three pulls, Louis,' I whispered back. 
On came the Huns in a most unseemly 
haste that gave us the greatest enjoyment. 
They were going to reach the trench! 
They just finished a wild successful rush 
towards it when the machine gun rattled 
out again. The disappointment of it! 
Ten seconds sooner and we would have 
got some of them. Jack growled out his 
disgust. 

* Four pulls, Louis, ' I murmured. * Cheer 
up. Jack,' I said, ' the night is young and 
the fun is only beginning.' 

Five minutes passed and the Hun, on the 
return trip, reappeared. 

' One pull, Louis! ' I almost shouted. 

The reply was prompt; the machine gun 
rattled out and claimed the last Hun as a 
victim. He fell, then got up and limped 
back into the trench. The six ahead con- 
tinued their wild stampede. Then the Hun 
became vicious and ugly and began to 
bounce the * Minnies ' around us, but we 



PULLING THE STRING 93 

stuck it out for the next reappearance of the 
relief. 

* There 's one way they could fool us, 
Mac,' said Jack, * if only they had wits 
enough. ' 

* How's that r 

* If they came over singly, at intervals.' 

' Yes, they could do that, but even then 
we could give them a few thrills. What 
they are likely to do is to use the trench.' 

But promptly at ten o'clock they re- 
appeared, and even more promptly and 
vigorously Louis gave a pull on the wire; 
the result proved most disconcerting to 
the Huns — ^they scattered and dropped into 
shell-holes. 

* Don't alter the elevation, Jack,' I 
whispered, * let them keep on firing ; ' and 
then we watched the antics of the in- 
dividual Huns until we simply rocked with 
laughter. First one would cautiously and 
hesitatingly get up and make a wild dash 
forward — a burst of fire from the machine 
gun, and he would disappear, head and 
heels, into the nearest shell-hole. This 
would be repeated by every Hun in the 
party. A journey of three minutes occupied 
fully fifteen minutes. The wild scrambles 



94 SCOUTINGl THRILLS 

and frantic dashes forward were hugely 
amusing to us. The same thing happened on 
the return journey — every man for himself. 
We were simply weak with laughing, when 
the last of them disappeared. 

' Do you think they '11 come back again, 
Mac ? ' asked Jack. 

* No, I don't; I 'd like to bet any money 
they don't.' 

Midnight came, but no Huns; fifteen 
minutes after midnight, and still no Huns ! 
Thirty minutes after, and still no Huns ! 

* I think we may as well pack up and go,' 
said Jack. 

* Yes, the Hun has got wise at last. ' 

So we packed up and went back to head- 
quarters. But we had had a very merry 
demonstration of the old saying : — * Pull the 
string and the figure will move ! ' 



VI 
HUN EAIDS 

T T was our first trip in the line after tEe 
^ severe fighting — under indescribably 
ghastly conditions — at Paaschendaele. We 
were in the Lens sector, and part of the line 
we took over ran through the village of 
Avion. 

Two days before we went in I was with 
a party of officers who were ' looking over ' 
the line preparatory to the battalion going 
in. I got into touch with the scout officer. 

* Well, what kind of a tour are you having 
— anything exciting happening ? ' 

' Nothing much, though he seems to be 
particularly lively with his " Minnies " — 
got a party of fifteen last night — knocked 
the whole crowd out with one shell. ' 

' Have you got a " line " on any of them 
yet? ' 

* Well, it 's so hard to do anything of 

95 



96 SCOUTING THEILLS 

the kind. He seems to have all his ' ' Minnie ' ' 
gun emplacements behind the railroad em- 
bankment. Probably he has a truck and 
runs them up, firing a few roimds each time 
from different locations. ' 

* How about patrols, anything much 
doing? ' 

* No, nothing exciting.' 

* Well, I '11 go up and have a look around. ' 

* I '11 go with you, if you like.' 

'■ No, thanks,' I replied, ' I have a scout 
with me, and we '11 go around together; we 
can find our way around all right. ' 

We reached the front line — ^to find it 
absolutely levelled in places. There was 
no mistaking the Hun's malicious interest 
in the place! We had not been there 
long before our necks were getting stiff 
watching for the ' Minnie ' shells as they 
came hurtling through the air; then came 
the swift hissing noise, followed by the 
tremendous explosion that fairly shook 
your teeth loose, apart from the horrible 
jar it gave your heart ! 

' Say, this is no picnic around here, is it ? ' 
I remarked to the scout who was with 
me. 

* No, sir,' he replied; ' unless you really 



HUN RAIDS 97 

want to stay to watch the fun, I think we 
might as well go. ' 

'Fun! I don't call this fun! and I think 
your advice is about the best I 've heard to- 
day, so let us get/ And we ' got.' 

The line we took over was most peculiar. 
The right sector was at right angles to the 
left. No Man's Land on the left was 
simply a mass of ruined houses, and the 
German trench was about a hundred and 
fifty yards from ours. On the extreme 
right, No Man's Land was as much as eight 
hundred yards across, and all open country. 
I decided, for the first night, to take a stroll 
across the open country and, with such a 
wide No Man's Land, decided to take out a 
fairly large patrol. 

The light was good when nine of us, 
making up the patrol, climbed out of our 
trench and started on our way across to the 
German lines. 

* I think we might as well walk for two 
or three hundred yards, corporal, don't 
you? ' 

* Yes, sir,' he replied. ' Our patrol is a 
fairly strong one, and we can afford to take 
a few risks. Besides, the grass is very wet 
from the rain we had to-night; we would 



98 SCOUTING THRILLS 

soon be soaking wet if we got down at 
all/ 

So, keeping formation, we continued to 
walk slowly forward, pausing occasionally, 
getting down on one knee and listening. 
The wet grass made me loathe to do any 
crawling until absolutely necessary, so that 
we had really gone some hundreds of yards 
when Pete came up to me and touched my 
shoulder. 

* The German wire is only about fifty 
yards in front of us, sir,' he whispered. 

I immediately gave the signal to get 
down and looked hard in front of me. Pete 
was right — it was as he had said. I waited 
for a few moments and then began to crawl 
forward, the corporal being alongside of me. 
When about ten yards from the wire I indi- 
cated to the corporal a gap in the Hun wire. 

* Wait here,' I whispered, * while I crawl 
forward into that gap.' 

I reached the gap and was pushing my 
way through it when something hit my foot 
— a piece of mud. I turned around in 
time to see the corporal making frantic 
signals for me to return. I lost no time 
in crawling back. Pete was with the 
corporal, his eyes shining with excitement. 



HUN RAIDS 99 

' What is it, corporal 1 ' I whispered. 

Pete answered. ' A bunch of Fritzes, 
sir; can't you see them inside the 
wire. ' 

I looked, and sure enough there were 
several shadowy forms almost opposite the 
gap — a Hun wire patrol! If I had con- 
tinued crawling — as I most likely would 
have done but for the warning, my view 
being strictly limited to what lay imme- 
diately ahead of me — the Huns would 
probably have almost walked over me! 
It might be asked, why didn't we throw 
our bombs or use our rifles'? The reasons 
were excellent ones. In the first place we 
were several hundreds of yards from our 
own trench. If there had been retaliation 
and we had suffered casualties the diffi- 
culties of getting them back were really 
enormous. Then we were new to the 
ground; should one or two men become 
separated from the party there would be 
the danger of their getting lost and maybe 
captured. With the information we now 
had we could return to this place and lie 
in wait for them. This was our intention 
when we left there, but subsequent exciting 
events caused us to quite forget these wire 



100 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

patrollers. We returned to our trench 
about three o'clock in the morning. The 
moon disappeared about five o'clock and 
there was an hour of darkness before 
daylight. That was the hour chosen by 
the Hun to raid our trenches. He had 
assembled two parties in shell-holes in No 
Man's Land, parties (we afterwards dis- 
covered) of twenty-five men each. 

Shortly before dawn, following a period 
unusually quiet, there was a sharp, sudden, 
heavy bombardment; a score of big 
' Minnies ' came crashing over, uprooting 
the earth and levelling the trenches. Those 
of the garrison who were not killed or 
wounded, were left dazed by the noise 
and concussion. This was followed by 
two separate attempts to force an entry 
into our trenches, but these were gallantly 
beaten off by what was left of the garrison. 
The Hun raid had failed. 

As soon as the news of the raid reached 
us we went up to get all particulars. The 
Hun was viciously lobbing his ' Minnies ' 
over, and the front line trench was in an 
indescribable condition. The garrison, worn 
out with their weary vigil and trying ex- 
periences of the previous night, were un- 



HUN RAIDS 101 

able to snatch even an hour's sleep amidst 
the deafening noise and destruction of the 
bombardment. There was one particular 
post which was, as we thought, being 
significantly left alone. On either side the 
big ' Minnies ' burst with distressing and 
disturbing regularity. After several hair- 
raising escapes we reached this post. Just 
as we reached it a ' Minnie ' crashed into the 
wire in front of it, blowing the entangle- 
ments sky-high. 

^ Well, that just about clinches the 
matter, corporal,' I remarked to the scout 
corporal who was with me. 

* No doubt about it, sir, he 's going to try 
his luck at this post to-night. ' 

The signs all pointed to it, and they were 
confirmed by the company commander's 
report to headquarters, in which he said 
he strongly suspected a raid on what was 
known as No. 7 Post. Accordingly, all 
defensive precautions were taken. A con- 
ference at headquarters resulted in a req- 
uisition for the necessary amount of 
artillery retaliation and machine-gun fire. 
The signal for this retaliation was to be a 
green flare fired from the front line. When 
this signal went up; crash would come down 



102 SCOUTING THRILLS 

our artillery and the machine guns would 
rattle out, swishing across No Man's Land, 
making any venturesome Hun keep as close 
to Mother Earth as he could. When I 
heard of all these defensive arrangements 
I decided that the scouts could very use- 
fully take a hand in them. I went along 
to the scouts' dug-out. 

* What about making up a little reception 
committee for the Huns to-night, boys ? ' 

The proposal was favourably received, 
so I expounded my idea to them. 

* We '11 go out between four and five 
o'clock in the morning, and lie in wait for 
the Hun some distance in front of the post 
we believe he is going to attack. He's 
bound to assemble somewhere, and if we 
can catch him assembling we can spoil his 
party. ' 

So we made our plans for the part we 
intended to play in this little drama. See- 
ing that we might probably have a lively 
early-morning encounter, we abandoned all 
previous plans for patrols that night. 

Shortly after four o'clock nine shadowy 
figures might have been seen stealing out 
of our trench and across No Man's Land. 
In order not to confuse the garrisons of 



HUN EAIDS 103 

other posts to the left of the one in front 
of which we proposed to assemble (No. 7 
Post), we agreed not, under any circum- 
stances, to go to the left of this post. This 
left the garrisons of the two posts attacked 
the previous morning (Nos. 9 and 10 Posts) 
free to deal with any one seen out in No 
Man's Land. 

I took my patrol out about seventy-five 
yards in front of No. 7 Post, and, by the 
time we had got into a good defensive 
position, the moon had disappeared. About 
a hundred yards in front of us was the Ger- 
man trench. There was the distinct 
sound of something metallic striking against 
the Hun wire. 

' Did you hear that, corporal*? ' I whis- 
pered. 

* Yes, sir, somebody in the wire,' he 
replied. 

' I think it is a little to the left, don't you ?' 

* Yes, it is over in that direction, sir. ' 

* He may be taking another crack at 
No. 10 Post. Perhaps he was only trying 
to bluff us when he began isolating No. 7 
Post? ' 

' Yes, he may; he's a tricky old devil.' 
' Well, in any case he '11 get a hot re- 



104 SCOUTING THRILLS 

ception if lie goes back there again. The 
boys are right on their toes waiting for 
him.' 

The minutes dragged wearily on, and 
there was not another sound to arouse our 
suspicions. It was the lack of sound now 
that made us suspicious. Not a shell was 
coming over, not a flare was going up. 

' There '11 be something doing soon, 
corporal,' I whispered. 

* Yes, sir, I feel like that too,' he replied. 

It was uncanny, for though we could 
neither hear nor see any one, we knew that 
men were moving around, and that soon 
some one would be locked in a death-grip 
with them. Were they out there in front 
of usf We strained our eyes into the 
darkness until they ached. Breathless we 
listened, with bombs ready to throw at 
the first sign of an attacking Hun. They 
were moments of tense excitement. 

^ Look, sir,' whispered the corporal, 
tugging excitedly at my arm. 

I looked up. There were eight of them 
— flaming-tailed * Minnies.' They were all 
a little to our left. There was a tremendous 
crash and concussion as they hit the ground 
almost simultaneously. A few seconds later 



HUN RAIDS 105 

we watclied the flight of eight more. Then 
another eight. Our hearts were beating 
wildly with excitement. Then from the 
German trench in front of us a green flare 
shot up — the signal to the raiding party to 
rush our posts! By a marvellous co- 
incidence it was the same signal as our 
local S.O.S. — the signal for our artillery and 
machine guns to open up. And they did! 
A perfect hail of machine-gun bullets 
swished over our heads, making even us 
bite the grass! And the raiders? Well, 
they were caught in the storm. From 
several directions we heard the cries and 
moans of wounded and dying men. We 
also heard the rattle of one of our Lewis 
guns from the direction of No. 10 Post. 
Our shells were crashing into the Boche 
wire and making the return trip of the 
raiders decidedly warm and unhealthy. I 
was filled with an overpowering desire to 
go off in the direction the cries came from 
— a wounded prisoner was always worth 
bagging — but could not move, as all the 
cries were coming from our left and I had 
arranged to keep away from there so as to 
give the garrison a free field. If we had 
gone over there and had been seen, then 



106 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

we should have been shot up too. The noise 
and din was indescribable, and those agon- 
ised cries of wounded men made the whole 
experience inexpressibly weird. 

^ They 've had another try after No. 10 
Post, corporal,' I whispered; ^ as soon as 
we can get back we '11 go along and find 
out.' 

A few minutes later we were back in our 
own trench. 

' Send the rest of the patrol back to head- 
quarters, corporal, and you come along 
with me.' 

We were soon rushing along our trench 
in the direction of No. 10 Post. We passed 
a prisoner who had been found, a few 
minutes after the raid, trying to get through 
our wire. He was one of the ' sturm- 
truppen ' or ' storm troops,' who, having 
lost all sense of direction, thought he had 
arrived back at his own trench. He was 
soon disillusioned. A husky stretcher- 
bearer, hearing the noise, climbed out of the 
trench and found him struggling in the wire. 
At first he began jabbering in German, but 
was rudely interrupted by the stretcher- 
bearer, who seized him by the collar and 
conferred upon him the noble Order of the 



HUN RAIDS 107 

Boot — ^landing him squarely into our trench. 
For a * storm-trooper ' he was a bit of a 
paradox, his height being barely five feet, 
and he was very slim and weakly-looking. 
He wore the ribbon of the Iron Cross. 
After giving him the * once over,' we 
arrived at No. 10 Post. We did not wait 
to make any inquiries, but hopped over 
the parapet. Not many yards away there 
was a wounded German crying out loudly 
in his agony. Two of our officers were lying 
in a shell-hole just outside our trench. I 
spoke to them. 

^ You must have been punishing the Hun 
to-night,' I said. 

* Yes, ' replied one of them, ' one of our 
Lewis guns caught them just as they got 
to our wire. ' 

* I'm going out to have a look at the 
Hun raising the noise; perhaps we can 
get him in. Come on, corporal,' I said. 
* We'll see what 's wrong with him.' 

We crossed over our wire, and a few 
yards beyond it we found the wounded 
German. He was making a most unearthly 
noise. ' Beine ! Beine ! ' he was shouting. 
I took that to mean his leg, so bent down 
and got hold of his right leg. It was hang- 



108 SCOUTING THRILLS 

ing by the skin, having practically been 
severed by machine gun fire. Upon further 
examination we found him to have several 
wounds in the stomach and head. He was 
well-equipped for a fight — strapped across 
his chest and under the armpits was what 
was known as an apron for carrying bombs. 
In this he was carrying six bombs of the 
type popularly known amongst us as 
* potato-mashers ' — because of the resem- 
blance to one. His pockets were filled 
with cartridge clips for his rifle, and dan- 
gling on his belt was an evil-looking dagger. 
We unstrapped his bomb-apron and took 
off his equipment. During all this time 
he was groaning and shouting in pain. 
We endeavored to get him out of the 
shell-hole, but he was a big, heavy man, and 
moving him seemed to cause intense pain. 
We were joined by one of our officers, 
and just as the three of us were pre- 
paring to move him he died. We took 
the papers, including letters and postcards, 
from his pockets, and then had a look 
around. We saw a tape stretching across 
No Man's Land and leading into a gap in 
our wire. We followed the tape in the 
direction of our own trench, and came to 



HUN RAIDS 109 

a shell-hole in which were lying three dead 
Huns. The leader, a sergeant-major, was 
clutching one end of the tape in his hand. 
His revolver lay on the side of the shell- 
hole nearest our trench. He had apparently 
just raised himself preparatory to jumping 
out of the shell-hole and making a dash 
for our trench, when a burst from the 
Lewis gun caught him square in the face. 
The other two had also been hit in the 
head, and killed instantly. We were full 
of praise for the boy at the gun; he had 
been wonderfully cool and brave. After 
removing all papers and valuables from 
the pockets of the dead Huns we returned 
into our own trench. It was then ahnost 
dawn. The prisoner taken had, upon ex- 
amination, told us of the intention of the 
German staff to carry out raids until they 
had secured a prisoner. The specially 
trained troops known as ' sturm-truppen, ' 
had been given orders to raid each night 
until they were successful, so it seemed 
likely that we could expect more attempts. 
Two unsuccessful attempts had now been 
made on No. 10 Post. The post to the 
left of that (about one hundred yards of 
trench between these posts had been evacu- 



110 SCOUTING THRILLS 

ated owing to the heavy meinenwerfer fire) 
had been attacked once, so we decided to 
patrol in front of it. The trenches were 
closer here, so it was not necessary to have 
quite as large a patrol, and only five of us 
went out. After getting clear of our wire, 
we crawled forward (it was moonlight) in 
the direction of the nearest German post, 
about seventy-five yards away. During 
our progress towards it we found several 
indications of the presence of the raiders 
there two nights ago. ' Potato-mashers ^ 
were lying scattered around in different 
shell-holes. Meeting with opposition, the 
raiders had doubtless scurried off in various 
directions. I crawled down into a shell- 
hole filled with wire. There was also wire 
running back from it towards the German 
lines. I made several futile attempts to 
get underneath the wire to see what lay 
beyond, but the strands were cunningly 
woven, and I had to give it up. I crawled 
out of the shell-hole and was moving over 
the left, when bang went a rifle not more 
than thirty or forty yards away, and a 
bullet plunked into the ground a few inches 
from my head. The four scouts were 
scattered around in shell-holes close be- 



HUN RAIDS 111 

hind me. One of them, a few yards away 
from me, beckoned to me, and I lost no 
time in getting into the protection of the 
shell-hole. Shortly afterwards two Huns 
stood up (head and shoulders showing) at 
a point about twenty yards from the wire 
I had attempted to get through. Pete, 
who was in a shell-hole on my right, saw 
them, and having a rifle, promptly fired and 
got one of them. Apparently frantic 
signals were sent back for reinforcements 
for, not more than a couple of minutes 
later, we saw five Huns, about seventy- 
five yards away, climb out of one trench 
and drop in quick succession into another 
leading out to the advanced post. We 
lay waiting and watching for several 
minutes, but nothing further happened. 
We continued with our patrol, remaining 
out until almost dawn. For one night at 
least, the Hun * sturm-truppen ' had a 
rest. 

The following night, shortly after dark, 
and while we were eating dinner, the noise of 
a terrific bombardment reached us. We 
rushed up the dug-out steps, and the scream 
of our own shells passing overhead was 
what we heard most. Upon inquiry from 



112 SCOUTING THRILLS 

the sentry on duty we found that the 
green flare, our local S.O.S., had gone up. 
I rushed along to the scouts ' dug-out. 

' Come on, boys, everybody ready at 
once; there 's something doing up the 
line. ' 

A few minutes later we were tearing up 
the communication trench to the front 
line. By the time we reached there things 
had almost quietened down. I met an 
officer on duty. 

' What 's the trouble now ? ' I enquired. 

^ Oh, Heinie has another crack at No. 10 
Post, ' he replied. 

* Did he get into it f ' I asked. 

' No, he was easily beaten off, but we have 
had a good many casualties from his 
Minnies. ' 

We went along to No. 10 Post and got the 
story from the corporal in charge. 

* It was soon after dark, sir. He threw 
over a bunch of ''Minnies" but none of them 
came very close to us. We saw one man get 
up, run forward and throw a bomb, 
which landed on the outside of the parapet. 
I fired my rifle and one of the men in the post 
threw a bomb. That was all that hap- 
pened, sir.' 



HUN RAIDS 113 

* You Ve apparently got them pretty well 
scared, corporal; they don't seem to have 
much heart for their work. Point out where 
you saw the man that threw the bomb, and 
we '11 go out to have a look around. ' 

The corporal did so, and taking four 
scouts with me, I started out on patrol. 
The moon was just rising when we went 
out. We got through the wire and crawled 
along the outside of it until we came to the 
tape we had seen there after the last attempt. 
We found it pinned into the ground with a 
pair of large Boche wire-cutters. I followed 
the tape along until I came to a huge shell- 
hole at the end of a piece of shallow, dis- 
used trench. It was smooth with use, and 
had no doubt been used for assembling the 
main body of the raiders ; it was not more 
than forty-five yards from our trench. I 
crawled into this and beckoned to the 
corporal to follow me. 

' No doubt about this, is there? ' I 
whispered. 

* No, sir, this is the place where they have 
assembled. They must have been here pretty 
often. ' 

* You can also see the path they have come 
along. ' 



114 SCOUTING THRILLS 

In the moonliglit it was uiunistakable, 
standing out like a bright broad ribbon 
stretched across No Man's Land. After in- 
dicating it to the corporal, I told him to 
wait there while I followed it along to the 
Boche trench. Owing to the bright moon- 
light it was unwise for more than one man 
to move along it; so, keeping a little to one 
side of it, I crawled fairly quickly until I 
came to the Boche wire fifty yards further 
on. Looking up, I could even see the 
smooth part of the parapet, the particular 
place where the raiders were accustomed to 
crawl out over. It was all most interesting. 
Party after party, patrol after patrol, must 
have moved along this pathway. There 
was no doubt about thorough preparation, 
and it would explain the repeated efforts 
to enter No. 10 Post — despite the many 
failures. Fritz had really set his heart 
upon this undertaking. I returned to the 
corporal. 

' There must have been crowds of men 
coming and going along this pathway,' I 
remarked when I got back into the shell- 
hole with him. 

* Yes, sir, they certainly intended to make 
a success of their raid. ' 



HUN RAIDS 115 

* Well, I only hope lie returns to-morrow 
night, he '11 probably find us waiting for 
him/ 

As the moon was up now until dawn, 
there was very little probability of another 
attempt being made, so we returned to 
headquarters. 

The next morning I went along to the 
scouts' dug-out and we talked things over. 
The result was that we decided to take out 
a fighting patrol, including a Lewis gun and 
crew, and wait for the raiders near their 
assembly position. I went to the CO. and 
explained what we intended to do. 

' That seems a very good plan, M'Kean,' 
he said, * you ought to take him by surprise 
if he makes another attempt to-night. ' 

^ Yes, sir,' I replied, ' we rather hope he 
will come back to-night. ' 

* How long do you intend to remain out 
there "? ' 

' Until the moon comes up, sir; we '11 be 
out between two and three hours. ' 

* Pretty cold job for your scouts, M'Kean. ' 
' Yes, sir, it will be, but they are all very 

keen about it. ' 

' You want a Lewis gun crew to report to 
you at 4.30?' 



116 SCOUTING THRILLS 

*■ Yes, sir ; we 'd like men who are keen on 
this kind of thing. ' 

' All right, I '11 see you get good men. ' 

The patrol was to consist of nine scouts 
and four Lewis gunners with their gun. 

Shortly before dark we arrived at No. 10 
Post. The Lewis gun team was there, and 
I explained what they would have to do. 

' Now, corporal,' I said to the N.C.O. in 
charge of the gun, ' I am going to place you 
in position a few yards in the rear of and 
to the left of the scouts, so that if the Huns 
come into their old assembly position you 
will be able to fire into them from the flank 
— but don't fire until you get the word from 
myself or the scout corporal. If they come, 
we are going to throw bombs into them and 
then rush them, and get as many prisoners 
as we can. Now, you understand, don't 
you? ' 

* Yes, sir, ' replied the corporal. 

As soon as it was dark we went out, mov- 
ing quietly and cautiously until we were 
all in position, which took several minutes. 
I left two of the scouts with the Lewis gun, 
the other seven I took forward with myself. 
About twenty yards from, and overlooking 
the Hun raiders' assembly position, were 



HUN RAIDS 117 

three fairly large shell-holes. Three of the 
scouts, including the corporal, remained 
with me in the centre shell-hole ; two scouts 
were in the one on the left, and two in that on 
the right. We all had bombs ready to 
throw. In a couple of seconds seven Mills' 
bombs could be dropped in amongst the 
Huns. 

It was a very dark night, misty, wet and 
cold. We strained our eyes into the dark- 
ness, every man being eager to catch the 
first glimpse of the Huns. More than once 
I felt a light touch on my arm — it was a 
scout ready to swear he had seen something 
move. We would all concentrate on the 
suspected object, sometimes hearts beating 
high with hope, but we always had finally 
to admit that it couldn't have been a Hun. 
We were looking right into the huge shell- 
hole that the Huns had previously used for 
assembling, so a man moving into that 
could not possibly escape us. We listened 
as intently as we looked, and so the minutes 
dragged on into hours. I could feel the 
scouts next to me trembling with the cold, 
and I was trembling with it also. It was a 
wearying, exhausting vigil, yet all the time 
we were keyed up to the highest pitch of ex- 



118 SCOUTING THEILLS 

pectation and excitement. The conduct of 
the scouts was admirable ; not a man moved 
though I knew their feet, like mine, must 
have been as cold as lead, and the longing 
to knock them together to bring a little 
warmth into them was well-nigh irresistible. 
I looked at my watch — ^we had been lying 
there two hours and a half. There was a 
perceptible brightening; objects that had 
looked shadowy and blurred became dis- 
tinct — the moon was coming up. Fifteen 
minutes more and it was quite bright. No 
use waiting any longer — the Huns would 
not come now. I turned to the corporal. 

* Tell the men to crawl back in, corporal. 
I '11 wait here until they are all clear of the 
wire. ' 

This took a few minutes, and when the 
corporal came back to me I got up, cold 
and stiffened, and walked back into our 
trench. It was then that I realised just how 
cold I was. My teeth chattered so that I 
simply could not speak. 

The following night we were relieved. 
The relief came in as soon as it was dark. 
In order to discourage the Hun in any idea 
he might have of raiding, we had machine- 
guns fire * bursts ' into the gap in his wire 



HUN EAIDS 119 

tlirougli whicli he came out into No Man's 
Land. Also the corporal and myself, before 
coming in the previous night, picked up the 
end of the tape and took it out into No Man's 
Land, so that if he followed the tape he 
would move in a semicircle and carry out a 
successful raid upon his own trench 1 



VII 

THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 

' T^ ID you hear the strange story of the 
-*~^ mysterious tunnel in No Man's 
Land in the sector we have just taken 
over? ' the brigade intelligence officer asked 
when I called in at brigade headquarters for 
some maps. 

' No,' I replied. ' What is the story? ' 
* Well, if you will just come over here and 
have a look at this map I will point out to 
you the location of the tunnel. You see 
there — that in No Man's Land is a big rail- 
way siding in front of Lens. There is 
apparently a cutting of ten to fifteen feet 
deep. In the side of this cutting, about a 
hundred and fifty yards out from our trench, 
there is this tunnel which I have marked on 
the map. You will see that these sidings 
run diagonally across our front, and that 
they cut through the extreme right flank of 

120 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 121 

the right battalion. The right battalion 
have a post which looks down the sidings. 
It was from this post that an officer of one 
of the battalions of the brigade we have 
just relieved went out, with a sergeant and 
another man, to have a look around. They 
were going cautiously along, being anxious 
to see what was in an apparently old log 
building, when they were stopped dead by 
the sound of a cough coming from a few 
yards in front of them. They hugged the 
ground closely and waited. A few minutes 
later they heard men talking, and soon 
afterwards some one came around from be- 
hind this log building. It was a Grerman 
soldier, carrying a rifle. He stood and 
looked around for a while, and then dis- 
appeared around the corner of the old build- 
ing. This small party then returned to 
their own trench. The following night one 
of our battalions relieved them, and the 
officer who had seen all this took the scout 
officer of our relieving battalion out for a 
short distance and pointed out to him the 
location of the place. ' 

' It does seem rather mysterious,' I said 
when he had finished his story, ' for this 
location marked on the map is quite as far 



122 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

from the Hun lines as it is from ours. I 
cannot think for a moment what on earth 
he is doing with men so far out ; it isn't usual 
for him to do anything like this. ' 

' No, that is what makes it so mysterious. 
The Hun is not in the habit of roaming so 
far from home. ' 

' Are there any theories at all about it, 
any explanations for this unusual conduct ? ' 

' Division have one. It is well known 
that in Lens and the Green Grassier not one 
hundred yards from this tunnel or whatever 
it is, there is a perfect labyrinth of tunnels,^ 
and it is thought that there is probably a 
tunnel running under the railway from the 
Green Grassier. With such a tunnel he 
could easily assemble troops along the 
cutting for a raid or for a local attack upon 
our line. ' 

* What action do Division wish to have 
taken against it ? ' 

' At present the orders are to make a 
thorough and complete reconnaissance of 
the place, and to report upon the possibility 
of being able to destroy it. ' 

^ This was quite true. Even from the very best observation 
posts giving direct observation into Lens it was very seldom 
that you would see a single soldier moving about, though there 
were scores of German troops in the place. 



THE MYSTEEIOUS TUNNEL 123 

^ Well, I suppose the battalion in the line 
are doing that now? ' 

' Yes, they were out last night. They 
did not actually get up to the place, so have 
nothing new to report. ' 

The next morning I received instruc- 
tions to report to the headquarters of the 
battalion in the line (we were in support) 
with a view to relieving them the following 
day. When I arrived there I immediately 
got into touch with the scout officer, an old 
friend of mine. 

* What's this yarn about a tunnel in No 
Man's Land? ' I asked. He laughed. 

* I guess it is something of the kind, 
though we haven't seen any one there yet. 
We got fairly close to it last night, and some 
of the boys swore they heard voices. ' 

^ Have you seen the entrance yet ? ' 

^ No, we are going to try to get a look at 
that to-night. ' 

' What about the log building I heard 
about — do you think they use that at 
night? ' 

' I don't know; I'm not sure whether that 
is a log building. We expect to settle all 
these things to-night. When are you 
going to relieve us ? ' 



124 SCOUTING THRILLS 

' To-morrow night. We didn't expect it 
would be so soon, but tbe rumour is that 
the division will be out of the line for 
Christmas; suppose that accounts for it. 
Are you too busy or too tired to take me 
over the line 1 ' 

' No, not a bit. I want you to see where 
this log building is ; probably you '11 have to 
worry over this thing. ' 

We left headquarters and went up to the 
front line, arriving just in time to be greeted 
with a salvo of ' pine-apples ' (a cross be- 
tween a rifle grenade and a meinenwerfer 
shell) . We safely weathered this storm and 
looked over the different posts. At last we 
arrived at the extreme right flank. We 
moved a little to the right of the last bomb- 
ing-post, stood up and looked over across at 
the German line. We couldn't see the log 
building because of its being in the cutting, 
but my companion indicated a crooked 
telegraph pole. 

^ Do you see the shell-shocked telegraph 
pole over there? ' 

^ Yes, I know the one you mean. ' 

' Well, that is right alongside of this so- 
called log building. ' 

' How do you get out to it ? ' 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 125 

' We go out from this post here, get 
through the wire — it isn't very heavy — 
slide down the side of the cutting and go 
along the railway, hugging the side of the 
cutting pretty much the whole of the way. 
It 's rather a rotten way to go, for there is 
a fence along the top of the cutting, and 
any Hun patrol that might happen to be 
up there have you entirely at their mercy. 
They could roll bombs down on top of you. 
But to-night I am taking a couple of extra 
men to move along the top of the cutting 
at the same time as we go along the track. ' 

* Well, I hope you have good luck to-night 
and find out all there is to know. ' 

The next day the CO. sent for me. 

* You '11 have to go up a little earlier to- 
night than was arranged ; brigade have sent 
a message to say that the scout officer of the 
battalion in the line will take you out 
to look at this dug-out or tunnel or what- 
ever it is. It seems that they have a scheme 
on to blow the whole thing up, and it will 
be up to us to carry the scheme out. You 
had better get up there in plenty of time to 
get a good look around.' 

I saluted and went out. Shortly before 
dark I reported at the headquarters of the 



126 scouTme thrills 

battalion we were relieving, and was soon 
chatting with the scout officer. 

' Well, I 'm to take you out to look at 
our little wooden hut to-night, I under- 
stand? ' 

* Yes, I believe we are supposed to do a 
patrol together to-night. I have two of 
my scouts here who will go out with us. Did 
you find out much about the mystery last 
night? ' 

* Yes, a little more. There is apparently 
somebody in what looks like a dug-out 
entrance. We didn't see any one, though 
we waited around for fully fifteen minutes. ' 

* Did you hear anything ? ' 

* Well, that is rather doubtful. Some of 
the boys with me thought they heard sounds 
coming from the dug-out, and I also thought 
I heard something of the kind, though I 
would not like to swear to it. ' 

' Well, if you will take me out and show 
me the jolly old hut, I '11 carry on the good 
work of investigation. ' 

' Yes, we '11 go in a few minutes ; it 's a 
long walk up to the front line, and, as the 
relief will be coming in, we shall find it slow 
going.' 

We did find it slow going, and it was after 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 127 
eleven o'clock before we got out. As we 
could only be seen from one post, and we 
were m a hurry, we warned only the men in 
this post. We also asked them if they could 
spare us a couple of bombs. They handed 
them to us and we quickly disappeared 
into the darkness of No Man's Land. We 
clunbed over the wire and slid down the 
steep cutting. After travelling for about 
a hundred yards I saw the log building (as 
it was then understood to be) about fifty 
yards away. Leaving the two men in a shell- 
hole we pushed on to within twenty 
yards of it. We waited for a few minutes, 
listening intently. There were unmistak- 
able sounds of movement on the side of 
the building farthest away from us. We 
waited a few minutes longer, but no one 
appeared, so we rejoined the two men and 
made our way back towards our own 
trench. After a great deal of difficulty we 
climbed up the cutting and were stepping 
carefully over our wire when a peremptory 
Halt, who goes there?' made us pause 
suddenly and look up in surprise. To ex- 
plain this unexpected challenge I must go 
back to the time when we left our outpost. 
we had paused there for a few seconds, 



128 SCOUTING THRILLS 

merely to say we were going out on a patrol 
and would be back in a little over an hour. 
Apparently we bad not been sufficiently 
lucid for the two men in the post, wbo were 
comparatively new to trench warfare. We 
had walked overland to the outpost, which 
was in a bit of a trench running out from 
the front line. The two men, having been 
in the post only a few minutes, had a very 
hazy idea of where we had come from, but 
they made up for this by vivid and active 
imaginations. This was the story they told 
the officer who visited them a few minutes 
later. A party of four men dressed as 
Canadians had visited the outposts, and 
asked them a lot of questions about the 
different machine-gun and bombing-posts 
in the vicinity, and also the whereabouts of 
company headquarters (I myself had asked 
them a few casual questions), and had then 
disappeared in the direction of the German 
lines. The officer naturally became highly 
suspicious, brought up reinforcements, in- 
cluding a Lewis gun, and it was his voice 
that I recognised calling out the challenge. 
I disentangled myself from the wire and 
sauntered over in the direction of the post. 
Again that sharp challenge. 



THE MYSTEEIOUS TUNNEL 129 

* It 's all right,' I shouted back jokingly, 
' don't riddle me with bullets or begin 
planting bombs at my feet.' But he didn't 
think it was a joke. 

* Halt ! ' he yelled back ; ' advance one 
and give the pass-word.' Then I was woe- 
fully at fault! I knew it was the name of 
some bird or other. 

* Sparrow! ' I yelled, but no response. 
* Crane '; no reply. I thought furiously, 
and then joyfully shouted, 

^Lark! ' That did it! 

* Come on in, Mac, you old reprobate, ' he 
shouted. '■ You haven 't half put the wind up 
us to-night. ' 

I advanced, and was rather shocked to 
see one Lewis gun and four rifles pointed at 
me and behind them two men standing with 
bombs ready to throw! We dropped into 
the trench and went back to company 
headquarters. The officer who had taken 
me out was anxious to rejoin his battalion, so 
left us here. His parting words were : 

* Hope you blow Heinie sky-high out of 
the tunnel. ' 

Enticing smells of cooking were coming 
up from the dug-out, and I gratefully and 
promptly responded to the invitation to have 



130 SCOUTING THRILLS 

a meal. I asked if it included the scout wlio 
had remained with me, and he said it did, so 
we were soon enjoying a hot appetising meal 
in a dug-out that went partly beyond our 
own front line out underneath No Man's 
Land. 

' Where 's your box respirator, Mac*? ' 
some one asked me. 

I looked at the place on my chest where it 
should have been. It wasn't there! My 
horrible absent-mindedness again. 

' It would be a rotten joke on me if they 
put gas over to-night,' I said. Soon after- 
wards I left and went along the front line, 
visiting the outposts as was our custom the 
first night in the line. I was with two men 
in a listening post about thirty yards out 
from the front-line trench. I lay alongside 
of them talking to them in whispers and 
asking a few questions, when a series of 
pops from the German lines followed by 
the sight of several flaming-tailed ^ Minnies, ' 
making a rapid descent upon our trenches, 
took up the whole of our attention. 

In place of the crashing explosions we 
expected to hear there were several signifi- 
cant muffled noises. * Gas ! ' we whispered 
simultaneously. I hurried back to the front 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 131 

line in time to hear the word ' gas ' passed 
along. Men hurriedly dived into their 
respirators. The smell of gas was unmis- 
takable! Another salvo of Minnies filled 
with gas dropped just behind the front-line 
trench. What a delightful position I was 
in ! The nearest dug-out with a gas blanket 
on the entrance was about a hundred yards 
down the trench. With my hand pressed 
tightly over my mouth and nose, I made a 
wild rush along the trench, bumping into 
weird-looking, groping figures who gave out 
muffled peculiar sounds, indicating their dis- 
approval of the rough knocks I gave them 
as I passed. I dare not laugh in case I 
opened my mouth, and for the same reason 
I could not stop to apologise. At last I 
reached the dug-out and made a wild dash 
through the entrance. Only my heels touched 
the top step. I shot down the twenty odd 
steps with the velocity of a 5.9, landing at the 
bottom with a bang and a clatter, over- 
turning the cook's brazier (and also the cook, 
who sat at the bottom of the steps and who 
immediately set up a gurgling protestation 
as he struggled to express himself in the 
limitations of a gas respirator), and his 
collection of pots, pans, and dishes. In the 



132 SCOUTING THRILLS 

dim light of the flickering candles I saw 
several solemn-looking figures in various 
attitudes, all wearing their strange-looking 
gas masks. The dug-out was as silent as 
the grave. 

^ Anybody got a spare respirator? ' I 
shouted. 

They turned their owl-like eye-pieces in 
my direction and let it go at that. I re- 
peated my question. A man removed his 
mouth-piece long enough to shout a muffled 
' No, sir,' and then hurriedly replaced it. 
I hunted around and found a dirty old 
P.H. helmet, and soon became the weirdest 
looking figure in that solemn throng ! After 
a few minutes the taste of that old P.H. 
became infinitely more detestable than any 
amount of gas. If I had to be poisoned I 
preferred pure gas poisoning, so I took off 
the helmet. There was only a very faint 
smell of gas, and soon afterwards the gas 
sentry reported, ' All clear. ' A fairly strong 
breeze was blowing, and the gas didn't hang 
around long. I hopped up out of the dug- 
out as soon as I saw the cook taking off his 
respirator, and went back to headquarters, 
firmly resolved that I wouldn't again forget 
my respirator. 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 133 

The following day I discussed the ' tunnel 
mystery ' with the scouts, and we decided 
that four of us would go out that night and 
get into that entrance if possible ; also that 
we would see what was in the reported log 
building. Before going out that night a 
message came from Division to report on 
the possibilities of blowing up the entrance 
to the tunnel. We were all most eager for 
this patrol, but did not forget to carefully 
warn all the outposts that we were going out. 
I for one did not wish to be received back 
into our own trench with quite as much 
ceremony as on the previous night. 

It was a clear starlight night when we left 
our trench. Two of us slid quietly down the 
side of the cutting, the other two remaining 
on top as a protection to us. Crouching 
close to the side of the cutting, we moved 
quietly along to within thirty yards of the 
supposed log building, and dropped into a 
huge shell-hole in the centre of the railway 
track. We waited here for a few minutes, 
listening intently for sounds of movement. 
We then crawled forward on our stomachs 
towards the log building. It was rough and 
difficult ground to crawl over, with broken 
rails and uprooted ' ties ' lying around. 



134 SCOUTING THEILLS 

The least clink on the metal would have 
given the game away had any one been 
within hearing distance. With my heart 
beating a little faster than usual, I reached 
the rough walls of the frequently mentioned 
log building, crawled along the side farthest 
from the cutting, cautiously poked my head 
around the corner, and found myself looking 
into the entrance of this tunnel or dug- 
out. I listened for a few seconds, not 
even breathing during the time. Not 
a sound. I crawled over to the entrance, 
then stood up to look at the building — 
which wasn't a building after all. It 
was a rough palisade of logs let into the 
ground and bound together with wrought 
iron bands. They formed three sides of a 
square, the side of the cutting forming the 
fourth. The whole thing, which was filled in 
with ballast, formed a square of roughly 
about twelve feet, the height of it being a 
little over five feet ; and standing behind it 
you had an excellent view along the railway 
in the direction of our lines. I then pro- 
ceeded cautiously to descend the steps of the 
tunnel entrance. They were in good repair 
and there were signs that some one had been 
there quite recently. I had got down as far 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 135 

as the fifth step when I clearly heard sounds 
of movement below. If the night is at all 
bright any one coming down the steps of a 
dug-out is clearly visible to those at the bot- 
tom. Such being the case, I would pre- 
sent an excellent target, and I therefore 
* backed up,' reached the entrance and 
stood at one side of it. The sounds of 
movement continued; I also distinctly 
heard voices. They were coming up the 
steps. I slipped around the side of the 
barricade and dropped into a shell-hole 
alongside of the scout who had accompanied 
me. Soon afterwards three Germans 
appeared, two of them carrying rifles. 
They talked in low tones for a while, looked 
around, and went back. It would have 
been quite easy to throw a bomb and get 
the three of them, but we should never have 
got near that entrance again without a fight 
for it. Whatever the Hun was premeditat- 
ing, it would spoil his plans if we could only 
blow up that entrance. After this we re- 
turned to our own lines. Soon after my 
report had gone in, a message came from 
brigade saying that Division wished to 
have this entrance blown up without any 
further delay. It also stated that a twenty 



136 SCOUTING THRILLS 

pound mobile charge would reach head- 
quarters that night to be used for this pur- 
pose. It arrived shortly after six o'clock, 
while I was having dinner. Two men from 
the engineers had brought it, but, apparently 
thinking that we knew all there was to know 
about mobile charges, they had not left any 
instructions about exploding it, and to ex- 
periment for such information was a rather 
dangerous pastime. I had seen heaps of 
mobile charges — long tin cylinders filled 
with ammonal, with a small tin handle at- 
tached which enabled you to carry them as 
you would a suit case, but I had very hazy 
ideas as to how they should be handled. 
There was a prompt chorus of disapproval 
and protest from the other occupants of the 
dug-out when I suggested that we should look 
at the thing and see how it worked. I sent 
for the bombing sergeant; he had not seen 
one just like it before, but was confident he 
could quickly find out how it worked. We 
were proceeding with our investigations 
when I became aware of the very noticeable 
and unusual silence in the dug-out. I 
looked around — everybody had quietly 
slipped out. In a few minutes we had 
everything adjusted, cutting down the fuse 



THE MYSTEEIOUS TUNNEL 137 

to a thirty second one. I understood ex- 
actly how to work the patent fuse lighter. 

I had arranged that six of us should go 
out, two along the top of the cutting and 
four along the railway track. Before going 
out we explained to all the sentries what we 
proposed doing, and warned them to be pre- 
pared for a lively time if the Hun be- 
came alarmed and annoyed. A slight fall 
of snow promised to add to our difficulties. 
We went out the usual way. I went ahead, 
and one of the scouts carrying the mobile 
charge followed close behind. I confess I 
was in a constant state of trepidation about 
that mobile charge. I thought, ' If a 
machine-gun bullet hits it, will it explode ? ' 
If so, then I had a disturbing vision of the 
swift disintegration of my humble self ! 

* Whatever you do,' I whispered to the 
scout carrying it, ' if anything starts up, 
throw that thing as far away from you as 
you can.' 

' Yes, sir,' he replied, and I knew by the 
tone of his voice that he was every bit as 
anxious about it as I was. We reached the 
big shell-hole about thirty yards from the 
barricade. I signalled to the scouts on the 
top of the cutting to remain where they 



138 SCOUTING THEILLS 

were at, left two men in the shell-hole, and, 
accompanied by the scout carrying the 
mobile charge, started crawling towards the 
barricade. A delicious thrill of anticipation 
shot through me as I pushed my head around 
the corner of the barricade and looked into 
the entrance of the tunnel. The snow 
around the entrance was disturbed: some 
one had been up again ! I got up, tip-toed to 
the entrance and listened. There was no 
mistaking it, there were men down there. 
I signalled to the scout — ^he handed me the 
mobile charge. I removed the lid and 
pulled the pin of the patent lighter. It 
made a sound as loud as the report of a 
revolver. I heaved the long cylinder down 
the steps and promptly ran. We reached 
the big shell-hole where the two scouts we 
had left behind had remained, and waited 
for developments. We hadn't long to wait. 
There was a muffled explosion, and we could 
feel the ground underneath us distinctly 
tremble — our mobile charge had been a 
success! A few seconds later a dozen flare 
lights shot up from the German lines, and 
there was some desultory bombing and 
machine-gun fire. They were evidently 
puzzled as to what had happened. We 



THE MYSTERIOUS TUNNEL 139 

waited a few minutes, then started to steal 
back homewards, feeling considerably elated 
over our success. A single rifle shot rang 
out, and the bullet plunked into the side of 
the cutting a few feet behind us. We were 
spotted! The light snow covering on the 
side of the cutting — which was our back- 
ground — ^had brought into relief our dark 
figures. A burst of machine-gun bullets hit 
the rails — we flopped. Again the flare 
lights shot up, and one machine gun 
viciously swept up and down the track. 
We got up again and the same thing 
happened. It was a slow and exciting 
trip back, a fifteen-minute journey was 
lengthened out into one of an hour and a 
half. We were very thankful to find our- 
selves at last in the protection of our own 
trench. We were satisfied to know that the 
troublesome entrance had at least been ef- 
fectively closed. I have never been able to 
account for the activity of the Hun around 
that entrance. There was no doubt but what 
he was contemplating some mischief. If so, 
then the scouts had the satisfaction of frus- 
trating him. 



VIII 

LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 

* "1^7' HAT about a raid this tour/ was 
' ' one of the queries of the cheery 
Scout Officer of the battalion we were re- 
lieving. 

* Oh, I guess we '11 do the odd one,' I 
replied, * seeing that it is now the order of 
the day, and most especially the order of 
the night. What have you been doing in 
that line this trip ? ' I asked. 

* Oh, we 've done nothing this time; the 
battalion in support are putting on one to- 
night, though.' 

' Many in it ? ' 

* No, only a small party.' 
' A stealth raid? ' 

* Yes, they expect to grab the odd sentry. 
But stay and have dinner with us to-night. ' 

* Righto ! I expected to dine with you to- 
night. I 'm staying up until the battalion 
arrives to relieve you to-morrow night. I 

140 



LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 141 

hope there 's a corner in your dug-out un- 
occupied/ 

' Sure, we '11 find a place for you to crawl 
in.' 

The dug-out was a crowded but cheery 
place. 

' Come in,' called out the CO., and pretty 
soon I was feeling quite at home. A sig- 
naller brought in a message which he handed 
to the adjutant, who in turn passed it on to 
the CO. 

' Zero hour for the raid to-night is eight 
o'clock,' he announced casually; ' good luck 
to them ! Hope they bag a prisoner— it will 
save other people a lot of trouble if they 
do.' 

But they didn't. Just as they were 
cautiously approaching the gap the artillery 
had made in the wire they were spotted ! 
' Heinie ' was standing-to waiting for them, 
machine guns spat viciously, bombs began 
to fly promiscuously around, and the party, 
owing to casualties, was forced to withdraw. 
The CO. commented on this information, 
which reached us about ten o'clock. 

' Was just a bit afraid that was what 
would happen to-night. You cannot blow 
gaps into his wire without putting him wise 



142 SCOUTINO THEILLS 

to what you intend doing, and you cannot 
possibly get into his trench unless you do 
blow his wire up — ^he has a regular forest of 
It in front of his line. ' He then turned and 
addressed his remarks to me. 

* I suppose it will be up to you people to 
put on a raid now ? ' 

' Yes, sir,' I replied, ^ I understand we 
are doing something in that line this tour 
in.' 

The next day I spent several hours look- 
ing over the line, visiting every O.P. around, 
trying to get a view of that gap in the Hun 
wire from every angle. I had already de- 
cided to see for myself just what kind of a 
gap it was, and if we could possibly use it 
for forcing an entry into the German 
trenches. 

All the arrangements were complete for 
the relief, and soon after dusk elements of 
our battalion began to arrive. It was very 
dark and the relief was rather slow. After 
headquarters had arrived the CO. sent for 
me. 

' What do you propose doing with your 
scouts to-night, M'Kean? ' 

' I should like to look at that gap in the 
German wire, sir. ' 



LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 143 

* Which gap is this, M'Kean?' 

* The one the raiding party tried to get 
through into the German trench last night, 



sir.' 



' Why? Do you think it will be of any 
use to us ? ' 

* It may, sir — if it is a good one ; and I 
want to see for myself if it is any good. ' 

* All right, M'Kean; report to me as 
soon as you get back. ' 

' Very good, sir, ' I said, saluted, and went 
to my own corner of the dug-out and pre- 
pared to go out. I examined my Webley, 
saw that it was in good order; made sure 
that I had my compass with me; carefully 
studied my map; and then went out to 
collect my scouts. It was intensely dark 
as I stumbled along the duck-boards to 
where their dug-out was at. Arrived there, I 
found them waiting for me. 

* Everybody ready, sergeant ? ' 

^ Yes, sir ; could you give us the pass- word 
before we go ? ' 

* Oh, yes, I 'd almost forgotten. GiN" is 
the pass- word to-night. ' 

' Hope it will be Rum when we come back, 
sir ! ' called out Billie, one of the boys, and 
everybody laughed. 



144 SCOUTING THRILLS 

It was quite a long walk up to the front 
line, and the trenches were a little crowded, 
for the relief wasn't quite completed. I 
was anxious to get out as soon as possible, 
for it would be bright moonlight at one 
o'clock, and it was now nearly eleven. At 
last we got into the front line. The com- 
munication trench we had just come up hit 
the front line about three hundred yards 
to the right of the place where I had decided 
to go out at. I had my prismatic compass 
already set at a bearing that would take us 
in a fairly direct line for the gap I was so 
curious about, so decided to move along the 
trench to the left until I came to that par- 
ticular spot. Then I started to do what I 
was always most particular about — to give 
complete information to every sentry as to 
the strength of the patrol; where we were 
going out at; the direction we would be 
going in, and approximately the time we 
intended to return. 

To-night this was done rather hurriedly, 
for I wanted to get to the gap before the 
moon came up. I hadn't gone many yards 
along the trench when I met one of our 
officers. 

^ Say, old man, would you mind warning 



LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 145 

the sentries to the right of that C.T. ? I 'm 
in a bit of a hurry to get out. ' 

^ Righto ! ' he replied. Unfortunately he 
was wounded shortly after I left him, and 
with consequences to us that made our re- 
turn altogether too exciting and difficult 
for our comfort. 

As I went along the trench I climbed up 
on to the firing step and whispered into the 
ear of each sentry : 

' A patrol of nine men is going out in a few 
minutes. It will move straight out towards 
the German line and will be back in about 
two hours.' 

We arrived at the place I had marked on 
the map and prepared to go out, replacing 
our steel helmets with woollen 'Bacaclavas' 
C Old Bill' headgear). 

^ You and the corporal will keep close be- 
hind me, sergeant. We '11 move out in the 
inverted V formation.' 

* Very good, sir, ' replied the sergeant. 

I then climbed up on to the parapet and 
got close to the ground to look at the wire. 
I spotted a place where it was a little thin, 
and in a few minutes was outside of our own 
wire and sitting comfortably in a huge 
shell-hole. I could hear the rest of the 



146 SCOUTING THRILLS 

patrol cautiously following, and one by one 
they crawled quietly into the shell-hole after 
me. It was rather cold, and the ground was 
frozen a little, sufficient to make it difficult 
to move quietly. When we were all 
assembled in the shell-hole, and I had 
set my compass so that the luminous patch 
on the cover pointed out to me the direction 
we had planned to go, we moved forward 
in the formation agreed upon. The ground 
was new to us and simply pitted with shell- 
holes, some of them immense ones; this, 
added to the darkness, made our progress 
slow. I knew the distance between the 
lines at this point to be about two hundred 
and fifty yards, and that about one hun- 
dred yards out there was a disused trench 
running diagonally across our front. It was 
no joke trying to keep direction across that 
rough ground, and equally difficult to keep 
in your head an accurate idea of the dis- 
tance you had travelled. As I wriggled 
along towards the German line I looked up 
and saw what I could have sworn were the 
heads of five Germans, about thirty yards 
in front of me. ' An enemy patrol,' I 
thought; 'what luck!' A few whispered 
instructions, and the men in the rear came 



LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 147 

up on either side and began to move for- 
ward, the whole of the patrol converging 
on the suspected enemy patrol. They were 
still there, and I was enjoying a nice thrill 
of excitement, when a horrible suspicion 
gripped me — I got up quickly and ran for- 
ward. It was as I suspected — ^five baulks 
of round timber which, upon examination, 
proved to be some of the remains of a de- 
stroyed emplacement in the disused trench 
we were looking for ! We silently reformed 
and pushed on again for another seventy- 
five yards. I then went forward with three 
men, leaving the remainder behind to cover 
our approach to the gap we expected to 
find. It was noticeably brighter than when 
we first started out — the moon was coming 
up. We crawled quietly forward, and in 
the dim light of the rising moon we could 
faintly discern the outlines of the German 
wire entanglements. 

We continued to move cautiously forward 
from shell-hole to shell-hole until only a few 
yards from the German wire. The four of 
us were in an especially large shell-hole, and 
I had decided to wait for a few moments in 
the hope of a flare-light going up and giving 
us an opportunity to get a good view of the 



148 SCOUTING THRILLS 

German wire, when I thouglit I heard 
sounds of movement on the right. Billy, 
the boy on my right, also apparently heard 
and raised himself to have a look. I 
reached out my hand to pull him down, 
but too late! At the same moment a 
hand-grenade landed and exploded at the 
edge of the shell-hole and about a foot from 
his head. He gave a gasp and rolled back 
dead. A fusilade of bombs followed, and 
machine guns spat viciously. Myriads of 
lights went up, making the night as bright 
as day. I could see a party of Germans 
just inside of our own wire; they had 
apparently been expecting another attempt 
to raid. It became frightfully warm, and 
the noise was deafening. To get back the 
dead body of our comrade was, for the time 
being, out of the question. Bombs were 
exploding on all sides. I was expecting one 
to drop in amongst us at any moment. I 
whispered to the other two to follow me, and 
we made a dash back out of the range of the 
bombs and rejoined the rest of the party. 
In a few minutes things began to quieten 
down. Not one of us ever dreamed of 
leaving our dead comrade out there; a 
scout always brings back the dead and 



LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 149 

wounded — it is a code of honour. Then it 
was Billy, one of the most popular boys in 
our section, always willing, always bright 
and cheery, the star player in our battalion 
base-ball team. We had scores of senti- 
mental reasons for getting his body and, 
added to this, there was an important 
military reason. It was ten to one that, 
if left alone for a few minutes, the Hun 
would be out to search his body and would 
obtain identification. Their Intelligence 
Staff would consider this most important 
and satisfactory information, while ours 
would be correspondingly annoyed. 

* I want two volunteers to go back with 
me to bring in Billy,' I whispered. Every- 
body was most eager to go with me. I 
picked two and gave instructions to the re- 
mainder. ^ Three will go to that shell-hole 
to the left, and cover us with your rifles; 
the other two will stay here and be ready to 
move forward if we get into a scrap. ' When 
the three had moved over to the shell-hole 
and were in position, we went forward ; but 
we were seen, and the row started again. 
But we persisted ; our first difficulty was to 
find the shell-hole we had been in when 
Billy was killed. This was no easy matter, 



150 SCOUTING THRILLS 

for they all looked alike. Every time we 
got up to go from one shell-hole to another 
the machine guns rattled and the bullets 
whizzed around. I decided to search for 
it myself, trying each shell-hole close at 
hand and returning each time to the two 
boys with me. It was rather bewildering and 
nerve-racking, and I heaved a big sigh of 
relief when at last I found the place we 
had been in. I placed Billy's body in such 
a position that we could quickly seize it 
and carry it away. Then I crawled back 
to the two boys. 

* Get ready to rush forward with me,' I 
whispered. At a whispered word we all got 
up, ran quickly forward, seized hold of 
Billy's body, and ran back to the protection 
of a shell-hole. By a miracle the three of 
us escaped the hail of machine-gun bullets. 
Eventually we reached the two boys we 
had left behind and were soon rejoined by 
the three scouts who had been detailed as a 
covering party. By this time the sky had 
become clouded, and there was a fairly heavy 
ground mist. We rested until things had 
become quiet again, and then started 
back. We were naturally more or less ex- 
cited, and travelled for some distance before 



LOST IN NO MAN'S LAND 151 

giving the proper amount of thought to the 
direction in which we were going. It 
seemed to all of us that we had been travel- 
ling long enough to reach our own wire. I 
consulted my compass. We were travelling 
almost due south, and we should have been 
travelling west; in other words we had 
been moving parallel to our own line and 
had probably got ofl the front our battalion 
was holding. I knew that, further south, 
the line zig-zagged a little and No Man's 
Land narrowed down to seventy-five and 
one hundred yards in places. The ground 
mist had thickened, and we were simply 
groping around stumbling from shell-hole to 
shell-hole. The situation was full of peril, 
for even our friends might prove to be our 
foes. We stumbled on for another half 
hour, hoping each moment that we should 
come to our own wire. But never a sign of 
it did we see. We longed to hear a 
friendly Canadian voice, longed for a flare- 
light, longed for something to happen ! But 
no; just a threatening, menacing silence. 
We were lost in No Man's Land! All this 
time we were carrying Billy's body with us; 
two of us went crouching ahead, fingers on 
the triggers of our revolvers, ready and ex- 



152 SCOUTINa THEILLS 

pectant; then four of them carrying Billy; 
then the remaining two to watch the rear; 
and so we stumbled on for what seemed like 
hours — in that thick fog, slipping and fall- 
ing, expecting each moment to be confronted 
with enemies. My foot caught in something. 
I stumbled and hit the ground with a crash. 
But at the same time I gave a great gulp 
of relief. I had fallen amongst some wire 
entanglements. But whose? We had been 
wandering around so long in that impene- 
trable darkness that we couldn't swear to 
anything. It was just as likely that it was 
German wire as that it was British. Bold- 
ness was the only method of solving the 
difficulty. To approach it cautiously was to 
court disaster. There was a strong likeli- 
hood of it being our own trench, and if they 
spotted us crawling up to it we would never 
get into it alive. The fact that we would 
speak in English would make them doubly 
suspicious. Scores of Germans spoke Eng- 
lish; it was a favourite German trick for 
springing a surprise on our sentries. No, 
to approach boldly would be the best. So 
I decided to try this method alone, but one 
of the boys insisted on coming with me. 
We got up and started climbing over the 



LOST IN NO MAN 'S LAND 153 

wire. Then we heard a little pop, such as 
accompanies the discharge of a rifle grenade, 
followed by a significant whine. We flopped. 
Just in time! A rifle grenade exploded at 
our heels. I got up — ' Hello, Gin/ I yelled 
at the top of my voice. Bang! — a bullet 
whizzed past my cheek. * Gin^ Gin^ all 
right Gin ! ' Bang ! another bullet whizzed 
past me. I ducked, and at the same 
time a rifle grenade exploded behind us 
and perilously close to the boys we had 
left behind in the shell-hole. What could 
I do? I knew it was our own trench for 
they were Mills' grenades that were explod- 
ing. I must get into that trench. I jumped 
up again. ' Gin,' I yelled, ' for God's sake 
stop your firing.' Bang again, and another 
bullet whizzed past, but I kept on climbing 
over the wire. 

' Hello, ' a voice shouted, ' who is that "? ' 
* The battalion scouts; didn't you know 
we were out ? ' I replied. 

' No, we hadn't been told about it.' 
I had hit the extreme right flank of our 
battalion, and about six hundred yards 
south of the point where I had gone out. 
The officer who had undertaken to warn 
the sentries had been wounded soon after 



154 SCOUTING THRILLS 

I left him, so my message had. never reached 
them. We returned to the boys in the shell- 
hole. 

^ It 's all right, boys, we 're home at last. ' 

' Very glad, sir ; it 's been rather a rough 
night. ' 

^ Yes, it has ; everybody seems to have a 
spite against us to-night. ' 

We got a stretcher and carried Billy back 
to headquarters. It was breaking daylight 
when I said, ' Turn in and have a sleep, boys, 
you must be tired,' and left them. When 
I arrived at headquarters, the CO. was 
resting, so I wrote out my report — inter- 
rupted by many brief naps. I thankfully 
crawled into my bunk and was soon sleeping 
soundly and dreamlessly. It was my first 
and last experience of being lost in No Man's 
Land. 



IX 

WINNING A y.C. 

TT was in the critical days of April, 1918. 
-*■ The Boche thought he was winning, 
while we more or less disagreed with him. 
He had the advantage though, for he was the 
attacking party, and kept us more or less 
guessing as to his intentions — one of the 
chief disadvantages of being on the de- 
fensive. What the staff craved for was in- 
formation; and the best means to find out 
what was happening behind the Boche line 
was to get hold of some one who had been 
there quite recently, in other words — to grab 
a prisoner or two. He had started out gaily 
one day in March for a triumphant entry 
into the suffering city of Arras, but had been 
sent staggering back. He was now licking 
his sores, and we wondered if he was going to 
have another try. 

We had been out for a few days' rest, and 
the following day were due to go back into 

155 



156 SCOUTING THEILLS 

the line. The CO. held a conference at 
headquarters, and, being Scout Officer, I 
had been notified to attend. The CO. at 
once took us all into his confidence. 

' The army intelligence people are very 
anxious to get a prisoner. Recently a few 
stealth raids, using small parties of men, 
have been attempted, but without any great 
success. We have received orders to put on 
something big, and something that wiU 
guarantee success from the beginning. We 
are to co-operate with a battalion that will 
be on our left. This is merely a preliminary 
announcement of our intention and must 
be kept secret. This raid will be carried out 
during our tour in the line. ' 

This was a welcome announcement, for 
it promised something exciting, especially 
for the scouts. Previous experience of raids 
warned us to be prepared for some especially 
hard work. 

The following night we carried out our 
relief, and about midnight were settling 
down to the routine of a trench tour. Being 
on the defensive, special precautions were 
taken against surprise. When the head- 
quarters of the battalion we relieved had 
gone, the CO. sent for me. 



WINNING A V.C. 157 

* Now, then, M'Kean,' he said, ' I want 
you to start at once to locate definitely all 
the German outposts on our front, and to 
find out the condition of the German wire. 
We must have this information before we 
can make our plans for this raid. You can 
find out about this in your own way — you 
know more or less what is wanted. ' 

Now, if there was one kind of a job we pre- 
ferred above all others, it was the job of 
locating enemy posts. We got into real 
touch with the Boche, and usually exchanged 
compliments in the shape of bombs. I took 
my map and went along to the scouts' dug- 
out, and we talked over the most likely 
place to go to get quick results. Running 
out from our front line to the Boche line 
were several old communication trenches, 
and we decided to try our luck along one of 
these. It was very probable that the Boche 
had an outpost in this trench, and it 
was fairly safe to presume that it would 
be well protected, for he never took a 
chance. 

Pointing to this trench marked on the 
map, I remarked to the sergeant : 

* I think we should find somebody at home 
along here, don't you? ' 



158 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

^ Yes, sir,' he replied, ' it seems a most 
likely place.' 

' All right, we '11 go there. Hurry the 
boys up and be sure to bring along a fairly 
good supply of bombs — they 're useful 
things to use in a trench. ' 

About an hour later we reached the front 
line. It was a dark night and the Boche 
was, as usual, very generously supplying all 
the artificial light for No Man's Land. We 
had decided to go out on the extreme right 
flank, so warned all the sentries as we went 
along that we were going out on patrol. 
We reached the place we were going out 
from. It was an outpost along the com- 
munication trench about twenty yards out 
from our front line. In the trench in front 
of the post was a mass of loose barbed wire, 
forming a ' block.' It was fairly well pro- 
tected on the surface. A corporal was in 
charge of the post. 

* Anything stirring around here, corpo- 
ral? ' I asked. 

* Yes, sir, he 's bothering us with machine- 
gun fire — sweeps right over the top. 
'' Shorty " there' (he indicated a tall, 
lanky youth) ' has just had a hole knocked 
into his steel Hd. ' 



WINNING A V.C. 159 

His words were quite true. At that very 
moment a hail of machine-gun bullets swept 
over our heads. 

' He 's been doing that every few minutes, 
sir, ' the corporal remarked. 

* Well, we 're going out to see if we can 
wake up a Heinie. Five of us are going out 
along this old C.T., expect to be back in a 
couple of hours.' We took off our steel 
hehnets, and put on our woollen caps. I then 
waited for a few moments, for the old 
Boche was always methodical, and I knew 
we were about due for another ration of 
those machine-gun bullets. They came. 
Immediately afterwards, followed by the 
four scouts, I climbed out of the trench, 
over the wire, and dropped into the trench 
again on the other side of our ' block.' I 
was soon joined by the scouts with me. 

* Now, I want two of you to keep a special 
look-out along the top,' I whispered; * we 
don't want any Hun patrol to get in behind 
us and cut us off.' Then taking out my 
revolver from its holster, I stepped quietly 
along the trench, pressing each foot firmly 
into the ground before moving forward, and 
so eliminating the possibility of kicking any 
loose stones lying around. The trench ' zig- 



160 SCOUTINe THEILLS 

zagged ' a little, and I could never see more 
than two or three yards ahead of me. We 
had gone about a hundred yards, and I was 
standing perfectly still — listening. I heard 
the rattle of a few loose stones only a few 
yards ahead of me. I quietly slipped back 
the revolver into my holster, and took out 
a bomb from my pocket. I grasped it in 
a manner so that I could quickly pull the 
pin and throw it. A revolver was always 
a useful weapon when once at close quarters, 
but a bomb was more useful for the pre- 
liminary sparring. I pushed on a few yards 
around a bit of a curve. About twenty 
yards from me I saw two Huns standing in 
the trench, and three others lay on top, 
looking towards me. A Hun patrol! I 
pulled the pin out of my bomb and got ready 
to throw it, when one of them saw me and 
gave the alarm. They all scampered away 
just as I let fly with the bomb. As soon 
as the bomb exploded I pulled out my 
revolver and ran along the trench in the 
direction in which the Huns had disap- 
peared. I had only gone a few yards when I 
ran bang into a wire ' block ' strongly con- 
structed. I was just collecting myself when 
I heard a significant whine, and a bomb ex- 



WINNING A V.C. 161 

ploded outside the trench. A moment later 
there was another deafening explosion as one 
burst just behind me. It was most un- 
healthy, and I took to my heels until well 
out of range. There was a series of ex- 
plosions as the bombs came bouncing over. 
We returned to our trench, and I was able 
to report the definite location of one German 
bombing-post. 

The next morning we decided to try a 
daylight patrol along another old com- 
munication trench. I took Pete with me, 
a sturdy boy and an old, experienced scout, 
who loved fighting as much as a duck loves 
water. The difficulty was in getting out of 
our trench and through our wire without 
being seen, for unseen glasses and telescopes 
were constantly searching along the out- 
lines of our front line for any signs of move- 
ment. After several minutes of squeezing 
and wriggling, and without raising our 
bodies an inch from the ground, we 
finally succeeded in getting to the other 
side of our wire ' block.' We were pretty 
much out of breath though when we got 
there, so sat down and had a rest. Then, 
with revolver firmly clasped in my hand, 
and followed by Pete carrying a bomb (Pete 



162 SCOUTING THEILLS 

was the most wonderful bomb-thrower I 
ever saw), we proceeded with our recon- 
naissance. Owing to the zig-zag line of the 
trench I could never see more than a few 
yards ahead of me, so that I experienced 
a succession of delightful thrills of anticipa- 
tion, expecting any moment to see or meet 
with something interesting. At last I came 
to some fairly new barbed wire, loosely 
strewn in the trench as a kind of rough 
obstacle. I turned round and whispered to 
Pete: 

' I think we 're getting warm, Pete. ' 
' Yes, sir. I don't think his post is far 
from here. ' 

We climbed carefully over this wire, and 
a few feet further along came to a strong, 
impassable, well-constructed wire block. I 
tried several different methods to enable 
me to get through it, but in vain. I tried 
to wriggle underneath ; to get past it side- 
ways; for I was most anxious to have a 
look over that barricade of new sandbags a 
few feet further on. I was contemplating 
climbing over the top of it, when the head 
and shoulders of a Hun abruptly appeared, 
looking at me over the sandbag block re- 
ferred to. We looked each other square in 



wiNNiJsra A v.c. les 

the eye, and the surprise was mutual. I 
had stuck my revolver in my holster, and 
so was unprepared to become suddenly 
aggressive. But good old Pete was right 
there. I heard the click of the released 
lever as a bomb flew over my head and 
dropped neatly on the other side of that 
block. There was an explosion, followed 
by a shriek of pain. We were satisfied with 
our information, so lost no time in getting 
back into our own trench. 

"When I got back to headquarters the CO. 
sent for me. 

' I want you to come with me to the head- 
quarters of the battalion that is putting on 
this raid with us; we are going to have a 
conference there to arrange preliminary de- 
tails. ' 

We arrived there about an hour later. As 
a result of the conference, it was arranged 
to have a joint patrol to carry out an ex- 
tensive reconnaissance over practically the 
whole of the front on which the raid would 
take place. This was on a frontage of about 
six hundred yards. It was to be really a 
frontal attack on a wide stretch of trench, 
with one or two small parties working up 
some old communication trenches. The 



164 SCOUTING THRILLS 

large parties for the frontal attack were to 
be assembled in No Man's Land, and one 
of the purposes of the patrol was to select 
assembly positions for these parties. No 
Man's Land, opposite the front to be raided, 
was from three to five hundred yards across, 
so we expected to be able to find good 
assembly positions a considerable distance 
out from our own front line. At midnight 
(the time agreed upon) the captain in charge 
of our raiding parties, the scout sergeant, 
and myself, met two officers and a sergeant 
from this other battalion. The sentries had 
already been warned, so we went out im- 
mediately. It was a brilliant moonlight 
night, and we moved around quickly and 
undisturbed. Nothing eventful happened 
until we reached the track of a light railway 
which ran directly across No Man's Land 
at right angles to our front line. We were 
then roughly about one hundred yards from 
the Boche front line. We knew, from a 
recent aeroplane photograph, that he was 
digging a new trench about fifty yards out 
from his present front line, so we were then 
only about fifty yards from this partly dug 
trench. The captain from the other bat- 
talion turned round to me and whispered: 



WINNING A V.C. 165 

* I think you and I will go up this track 
towards this new trench; the remainder 
can stay here in this shell-hole. ' 

* Righto, ' I replied, ' lead on. ' 

So we started crawling up on the outside 
of the track until about twenty yards from 
the new trench. We could distinctly hear 
sounds of men working with picks and 
shovels, and lay listening for some time, 
when suddenly and startlingly two Huns 
popped up, apparently out of the ground in 
front of us. We hadn't realised we were 
quite so close to that trench. It seemed 
impossible for them not to see us lying 
there, so bright was the moonlight. They 
stood for a few moments looking down the 
track, then crossed over it and dropped into 
the trench on the other side. We rejoined 
the rest of the party and carried on with 
our patrol. 

Although No Man's Land was so ex- 
ceptionally wide opposite our trench, there 
was one place where the Huns had been seen 
manning a post only forty yards from one 
of ours. It was in one of the old com- 
munication trenches. In behind this post 
they had a machine-gun post. The bomb- 
ing-post was at least two hundred yards out 



166 SCOUTING THRILLS 

from their main trench line, and the ma- 
chine-gun post about thirty yards in the rear 
of it. The machine-gun post promised to be 
very troublesome, for it could enfilade the 
ground over which the main body of the raid- 
ing party had to cross. I had asked to be 
given the command of one of the raiding 
parties, so the CO. gave me command of 
the party detailed to attack this bombing- 
post and the machine-gun post in the rear 
of it. As the scouts were to be distributed 
amongst the five separate raiding parties, I 
selected Pete to go with me. Pete was full 
of enthusiasm and fight, his dark eyes glow- 
ing as we talked over different plans for 
attacking these posts. 

I reported to the CO. the results of our 
joint patrol; he made notes and told me to 
be ready to attend a conference of officers 
in charge of raiding parties some time in 
the afternoon. I attended this conference, 
and it was arranged that I should take these 
different officers to the assembly positions 
selected for their parties. A meeting-place 
was arranged and a time fixed upon. The 
hour was late enough to give Pete and my- 
self sufficient time to investigate the locality 
we were most interested in. I sent for Pete. 



WINNING A V.C. 167 

* Wliat about a patrol as soon as it gets 
dark, Pete? I want you to come with me 
to see if we can locate definitely where this 
bombing-post is that we have to tackle. ' 

* Yes, sir, the sooner we find out exactly 
where they are the better. ' 

^ All right ; come back in a couple of hours ' 
time and we '11 go out. ' 

It was just dark when Pete and I crawled 
out from our outpost. We crawled past our 
block and dropped into the communication 
trench. A few feet further on we came 
to the Hun block, strongly constructed of 
wire. To approach the post by that direc- 
tion was out of the question. We climbed 
out of the trench, got down into a big shell- 
hole and held a whispered consultation. 

^ Don't you think we should go straight 
ahead, sir *? ' suggested Pete ; ' we can keep 
fairly close to this trench. ' 

* Yes, I think we '11 push on ahead. ' 

We crawled out of the shell-hole into 
another adjoining it. From this we saw a 
mass of barbed wire, and proceeded to crawl 
up a slight rise towards it. We worked our 
way cautiously into it at a place where it 
was a little thin. It was moonlight, but 
there was a clouded sky, and it was raining 



168 SCOUTING THRILLS 

a little. After crawling partly througli the 
wire, we lay side by side, looking and 
listening. Pete had wonderfully quick eye- 
sight and saw, about seventy-five yards 
away, the shadowy outlines of three Ger- 
mans — apparently digging. In a whisper 
he called my attention to them. We were 
busily engaged watching them when there 
was a loud report, and a flare light shot up 
about thirty yards in front of us. It was 
rather startling and unexpected. But we 
saw something even more startling and 
unexpected. Pete clutched my arm ex- 
citedly. 

' Do you see him, sir, right there in front 
of us?' 

It would have been impossible not to see 
him, the ' him ' being a German sentry not 
more than fifteen yards away, head and 
shoulders showing above the outline of a 
trench. In speaking, Pete had turned his 
head towards me. We were seen! The 
sentry brought his rifle quickly to his 
shoulder, there was a loud report, a blinding 
flash, and the thud of a bullet into the 
ground underneath my chin (we were on a 
slight rise in the ground). A few seconds 
later another report and flash and the thud 



WINNING A V.C. 169 

of a bullet to the left, and just under- 
neath Pete. He had missed us both ! 

* Get out of the wire as quick as you can, 
Pete, before he has time to throw a bomb.' 
I wriggled out myself in time to help Pete. 
We got up and ran back. Only just in 
time — a bomb dropped and exploded just 
about where we had been lying. A machine 
gun just behind this post fired a burst, the 
bullets passing over our heads. 

' The son of a gun, Pete,' I said laughing, 
' he really dares to show fight. He 's in for 
a beautiful time if he 's in the same place 
to-morrow night.' 

Pete was stuttering with rage. 

* Let me go back and throw these bombs, 
sir.' 

' No, we don't want to alarm him, to find 
that the bird has flown when we get there to- 
morrow night. You can go back to head- 
quarters. I 'm going to take these officers 
out to their assembly positions. ' 

It was daylight when I got back to head- 
quarters. I turned in for a few hours ' sleep. 
Early in the afternoon, accompanied by 
Pete, I went to talk over our plans with the 
party of men detailed to me for our little 
stunt. They clustered around me while I 



170 SCOUTING THRILLS 

showed them some maps and sketches of the 
trench we were interested in. 

* Right here, ' I said, pointing to the map, 
* is our own post, about thirty yards along 
this C.T. out from our front line. There is 
a block here which we shall have to crawl 
over. About forty yards further along this 
C.T. you see marked the German bombing- 
post : we know exactly where this is for we 
saw the German sentry there last night. 
In front of this post is a strong wire block 
about twenty yards long. Now, we are 
going to assemble in shell-holes on each side 
of this trench. Six men, under Pete, will 
rush this first post — three men, with Pete, 
will be on this side of the trench, while the 
other three will be on the other side. Four 
rifle grenades will be fired into this machine- 
gun post marked here — about thirty yards 
in rear of the bombing-post. This will be 
the signal to rush the first post. Then six 
more, under myself, will follow quickly be- 
hind and rush the machine-gun post. One 
man will look after the mobile charges, for 
there are two dug-outs to blow up. Now, 
speed is to be the essential thing ; pile right 
in on top of them — don't give them time to 
guess what is happening. If you drop your 



WINNING A V.C. 171 

rifle, fight with your fists. The zero hour 
is one o 'clock in the morning, and we '11 try 
to get into position about quarter to one. 
At the zero hour a heavy artillery barrage 
will come down on the German trenches, 
but, because these posts we are tackling are 
so close to our own, the artillery will not be 
able to deal with them, so we must be pre- 
pared for a fight. It is most important 
that we should get this machine-gun post, 
for he can enfilade the other parties crossing 
the open.' 

* Do we start in as soon as the barrage 
comes down, sir I ' asked one of the men. 

* No, we wait ten minutes and go forward 
at the same time as the other parties. Now, 
Pete and I are going to take you up to the 
front line to show you where these posts 
are. The first one is actually in a British 
military cemetery: you can easily see the 
little wooden crosses. Have you any ques- 
tions you want to ask ? ' 

' Yes, sir,' asked one serious-looking 
Canadian soldier, ' do we get any rum be- 
fore the show starts? ' They all clustered 
round eagerly to hear the reply. 

' No, not until it is over ; we are going to 
assemble within twenty yards of the German 



172 SCOUTING THEILLS 

post, and if we give you rum some of you 
will start chattering and give the whole 
game away.' 

* Hard luck if we go under,' murmured 
one of the group. 

* Never mind about that ; it will always 
be a drop more to go round,' spoke up one 
cheery youth. 

* Now, don't forget what I said about 
speed — ^pile right in on top of them. ' 

To this last remark was added a picturr 
esque emphasis from Pete. 

We took them out to our bombing-posts 
in twos and pointed out to them the 
locations of the two posts. 

* Now, then,' I said to the three N.C.O.'s 
of the party, ' remain in this post (our 
bombing-post) for a few minutes. Pete 
and I are going out, and if you watch us 
you will see where we are going to assemble, 
and also the direction to go to get right on 
top of the Huns. ' 

We were both anxious to see in daylight 
the place we had been in last night. We 
found the body of a dead German, and re- 
membered how we had both crawled over 
him the night before. We were taking 
chances to be out there in daylight, but 



WINNING A V.C. 173 

we both felt it was worth it. This place 
would be familiar to us now in the dark. 
We crawled up towards the wire in front of 
the Hun post, but were soon seen, and had 
to scramble back quickly out of range of the 
bombs that began to come over. 

When we got back to the N.C.O.'s I re- 
marked to the sergeant in charge : 

* Pete will go back with you and tell you 
anything you want to know; he will ^tlso 
give you a few wrinkles on blacking faces 
and equipment. Bring a party to head- 
quarters at five o'clock to draw all the 
equipment and extra bombs and ammuni- 
tion that we shall require. Have the party 
in the front line by eleven o'clock, and I 
will meet you there.' Turning to Pete I 
said, ' Come along to my dug-out at 
eight o'clock, Pete; I '11 be ready by 
then. ' 

Promptly at eight o'clock Pete reported 
to me, his face literally coal black. 

* How on earth did you get your face as 
black as that, Pete ? ' I asked. 

^ Burnt cork, sir; nothing finer.' 

' Can you make my face as black as that 1 

1 'm afraid mine looks very patchy at 

present.' 



174 SCOUTING THRILLS 

In a few minutes Pete had made me look 
as undesirable as himself. 

' What are you doing with the two haver- 
sacks? ' 

* Bombs, sir, ten in each.' 

* You must be expecting a real battle to- 
night, Pete. ' 

' It will be if I can make it one, sir. ' 
' Well, we had better get a move on, Pete ; 
we don't want to keep the boys waiting.' 

We found them all there ready and wait- 
ing. I checked over each man's equipment. 

* You take the first two men out to that 
shell-hole, Pete, and I '11 bring the re- 
mainder out to you— two at a time. ' 

Pete at once started out, accompanied by 
the two men, and a few minutes later I took 
the next two along. It was slow and diffi- 
cult work. After passing our block we 
crawled on our stomachs for the twenty 
yards or so we had to go. We were then 
in a huge shell-hole only a few feet from the 
German wire. The last three men I took 
out into a shell-hole on the left side of the 
communication trench. I then rejoined the 
twelve men on the right side, and pro- 
ceeded to get all ready for shooting the rifle 
grenades. It was ten minutes to one when 



WINNING A V.C. 175 

all was in readiness, and I crawled over to 
Pete and whispered : 

' A good night for the show, Pete.' (It 
was not too dark and there was a slight 
drizzle.) 

'Yes, sir; I believe we shall surprise 
them to-night. Shall we have another look 
at the fellow who fired at us last night ? ' 

* Yes, we can see if he is still there. ' 

"We crawled up into the wire. He was 
there, head and shoulders showing above 
the outline of the trench. We chuckled 
at the thought of the surprise he was going 
to get, when apparently he heard us and 
fired; but not at us. No doubt to reassure 
himself, I thought. I laid my hand on 
Pete's arm, the signal to remain perfectly 
still. For two or three minutes we scarcely 
breathed, and then quietly wriggled out of 
the wire and rejoined our party. 
^ A perfect stillness reigned; it was the 
time when the activities of opposing armies 
are at their lowest. But for an occasional 
flare-light, no one would have guessed that 
legions of armed men were facing each 
other across that narrow strip of land known 
as No Man's Land. It was chiUy, and we 
shivered a little with the cold. The boys 



176 SCOUTING THRILLS 

lay there very quiet — scarcely breathing. I 
looked at my watch — it was time ! 

Suddenly and without warning, the eerie 
menacing stillness was violently broken with 
the screaming sounds of hundreds of shells. 
It was deafening, tremendous! Our bom- 
bardment had begun. Shrapnel was burst- 
ing low and just in front of us; we could 
hear the whang of the shrapnel bullets and 
the deafening roar of bursting high ex- 
plosives. Myriads of coloured lights — all 
flashing back their messages — ^were sent up 
from the enemy lines, illuminating the sky. 
To the uninitiated it was terrifying, nerve- 
racking. I knew some of the boys were new 
to this kind of thing so crawled round 
amongst them. 

* Don't worry, boys, it's all our stuff. It 
won't half put the wind up him; he '11 be 
scared stiff when he sees us piling in on 
top of him.' 

I then went over to Pete, who sat on the 
edge of the shell-hole, his eyes shining in 
the darkness with excitement, his fingers 
nervously clasping his revolver. 

' Is it time yet, sir ? ' he whispered. 

' Not yet, Pete, another couple of 
minutes. ' 



WINNING A V.C. 177 

At last the luminous figures on my watch 
tell me the time is up. 

* All right, Pete, get ready.' Then turn- 
ing to the boys behind, I called : 

* Fire your rifle grenades! ' They did. 
' Come on, Pete, I 'm going with you! 
Come on, boys! ' I shouted. Pete and I 
sprang up together. We saw them lined 
up waiting for us as we stumbled forward 
entangled in the wire. Suddenly there 
were several blinding explosions at our 
very feet and the wicked rasping noise of 
the machine gun in front of us. 

Pete clutched my arm and cried : 
' I 'm hit, sir, ' and fell, mortally wounded. 
I reached down and grasped his hand. 

* Hit badly, Pete, boy? ' But he did not 
answer, he was already dead. 

All about me there was a succession of 
blinding explosions and men were crying 
out in pain. That mass of wire on each 
side of the block was proving to be an 
impenetrable barrier. I ran a little to the 
right. I braced myself up, ran forward and 
took a flying leap over the wire. I just 
cleared it, staggered forward a few steps, 
and then hurled myself head first on top of 
a Hun who was just levelling his rifle at me. 



178 SCOUTING THRILLS 

I crashed to the bottom of a trench seven 
feet deep, with a startled Hun underneath 
me. In crashing into the Hun my steel 
helmet came down bang on to my face, and 
took away the tip of my nose. At the same 
time I saw myriads of dancing lights. The 
strap of my helmet had been at the back 
of my head, so the helmet was now dan- 
gling in front of my face. I lay breathing 
heavily with my right elbow sticking in the 
stomach of the Hun underneath me, who lay 
gasping — for I had knocked the wind 
clean out of him. I still retained a firm 
grip on my revolver, my finger on the 
trigger. I peeped over the rim of my 
dangling steel helmet and saw the figure 
of a big Hun gaily advancing upon me, the 
point of his bayonet about two feet from 
my throat. I promptly pulled the trigger; 
he gave a gurgling sound and sank down in 
a heap, his rifle and bayonet clattering to 
the bottom of the trench. The man under- 
neath me, no doubt desperately startled by 
the exploding revolver, violently came to 
life and started throwing his arms around. 
It was no time for polite argument, so I 
pressed the muzzle of my revolver into him 
and pulled the trigger. I scrambled to my 



WINNING A V.C. 179 

feet and adjusted my helmet just as another 
Hun came rushing along towards me. I 
let go with my revolver; he gave a howl 
of pain, turned around and ran. Being a 
great believer in the demoralising effect of 
noise I ran yelling after him. There were 
quite a few Huns in that trench, and soon 
the bombs began to fly about. I had a 
couple with me so let fly with mine. More 
bombs came over; and I had to back up a 
little to get out of range. I was beginning 
to feel a little lonely and worried — for that 
machine gun was still firing — when at last 
one of my men came up to me. 

' Give me your bombs, quick, ' I said, ' and 
go back for some more.' 

He handed me three bombs. I ran for- 
ward and threw them, forcing the Huns 
back along the trench. Back they came 
again, following the bombs with a mad rush 
towards me. I used my revolver with effect 
and they scampered back again, just as the 
man I had sent came rushing up with bombs. 
I grabbed two — ran forward and threw 
them, following close up with my revolver. I 
ran into six Huns, shot two of them, when 
the remainder turned round and threw up 
their hands. A few yards beyond I saw them 



180 SCOUTING THRILLS 

pulling down the machine gun. I called 
upon the man behind me to look after the 
prisoners, pushed my way past them in time 
to see the men with the machine gun disap- 
pear into a dug-out. I called back for 
a mobile charge and waited. It was two 
or three minutes before a man came 
staggering along with one — pulled the pin 
and threw it down the dug-out. A few 
seconds later the air was filled with flying 
debris. I leave to the imagination what 
happened to the Huns and the machine 
gun. Looking back, I saw the red flares — 
the recall signal — burning. I got back to 
find that Pete's body had been carried into 
our trench. The next day, and for two 
succeeding days, I suffered from what is 
popularly known as ' a stiff neck,' which 
will explain why it was the Hun lay winded 
underneath me. 

Some weeks later the CO. sent for me. 

* M'Kean,' he said, ' I wish to congratu- 
late you heartily on being awarded the 
Victoria Cross.' 

I felt rather staggered and bewildered. 

' Thank you, sir, ' I replied — and that was 
all I could say. 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 

"1^7" E all felt it was the beginning of the 
^ * end, though none of us guessed 
just how near the end was. After participa- 
ting in a record advance, we were hustled 
north to deliver another of those * hammer 
blows ' that brought fame and final victory 
to the British Army. We were not lucky 
enough to get in at the beginning. The 
show had been going a full twenty-four 
hours before the shells began to shake 
themselves out around us, and we were 
tired, too, with long night-marches and 
very little rest during the day-time. The 
last day of our move was spent in train and 
bus, to be followed by another night-march. 
Seeing that the day's train journey was pre- 
ceded by a night-march, this combination of 
activities found us pretty tired at the end 
of them all. 

181 



182 SCOUTING THRILLS 

Very soon after daylight, after not more 
tlian three hours' sleep, I was given in- 
structions to proceed forward with my 
scouts for a reconnaissance of the area we 
were to move up to that night. It was 
ground captured only the previous day. 
When we arrived there we were well on the 
fringe of the battle raging in front of us. 
The long string of ambulances and walking 
wounded testified to the severity of the 
fight; and the columns of bedraggled 
though smiling and happy prisoners also 
testified to the success we had gained. 

We found the area allotted to us, and 
studied the best route, having respect both 
to its shortness and safety (for the shortest 
way was very seldom the safest). With 
seven or eight hundred men to bring along 
we had to give a good deal of thought to the 
route to be used. 

We arrived back only in time to get a bite 
to eat and start off again as guides. It was 
dark and raining, and all the routes were 
jammed with traffic — ammunition columns 
dashing up with shells for the guns; more 
guns going forward; engineers and in- 
fantry all packed in along the roads. With 
motor lorries, ambulances, empty ammuni- 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 183 

tion wagons, all coming back, it was really 
marvellous how anybody ever got any- 
where. The rain came down pitilessly. 
Our accommodation in the trenches was 
very limited, and more than half of the 
boys had no shelter from the rain. 

Early the following morning the CO. sent 
for me. 

' We are expecting to go into the line to- 
night, M'Kean. You had better take a 
couple of your scouts and go forward to the 
headquarters of the brigade in the line. 
They may be able to give you some in- 
formation about the relief. Here is a new 
map that has just arrived ; you can take this 
with you and mark on it any information 
you can get up there. ' 

I got two scouts and went up forward. 
They were shelling heavily all the routes of 
approach, for most of them were jammed 
with guns galloping forward to new posi- 
tions. Arrived at brigade headquarters, I 
found a small dug-out crammed full of 
people on the same job as myself, the quest 
for information. I squeezed myself in and 
had the good fortune to catch the eye of the 
brigade-major. 

' Come on in, M'Kean, ' he called out. 



184 SCOUTING THRILLS 

I went forward very willingly. 

' Now, what is it you want to know *? ' 

I explained. 

* Yes, we have had notification that your 
brigade will relieve us to-night, but we 
cannot give you any information regarding 
the probable positions of the battalions, for 
we are attacking at 12.30 to-day.' (It was 
then just after eleven). ' If all the objec- 
tives are gained at the stated time we shall 
have pretty complete information for you. 
The best thing you can do, though, is to wait 
here and see how things go. ' 

So I waited. I looked outside and saw the 
artillery galloping up and getting into po- 
sition for putting over the barrage for 
the attack at 12.30. Ammunition was also 
being rushed up to the guns. In brigade 
headquarters everything was bustle and 
hurry. Promptly at 12.30 every gun around 
the place opened up with a bang. About 
two thousand yards ahead we could see the 
white puffs of the exploding shrapnel. 
From the little hillock we stood on we could 
also see our infantry climb out of the trench 
and go forward — ^being lost to view in the 
smoke of the Hun barrage. The battle was 
on! Around us the gunners worked fever- 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 185 

ishly to feed the smoking guns. In brigade 
headquarters there was tense excitement 
and much speculation. The Hun was stub- 
bornly resisting at this point, and scores of 
machine guns swept the ground over which 
our men had to advance. Conflicting re- 
ports from observers began to arrive, at 
one moment raising our hopes high, at the 
next dashing them to the ground. At three 
o 'clock no authentic news of the progress of 
the attack had arrived. I could not wait 
any longer. The battalion was nearly four 
miles away, and I must get back to it, for 
it had to be brought up that night to relieve 
the attacking battalions. 

When the head of the battalion arrived at 
brigade headquarters, one hour before 
midnight, information from the front line 
was both scanty and contradictory. There 
had been heavy fighting and severe casual- 
ties; one battalion had lost all its officers 
excepting the medical officer, and he was in 
command of the battalion. Messages 
had been sent out to the attacking battalions 
asking them to have guides report to take 
in the relief, but at midnight no guides had 
arrived. The CO. decided to go forward. 

Somewhere in front of the village we 



186 SCOUTINe THRILLS 

would pass through we expected to find 
what remained of the attacking battalions. 
With scouts in front, the battalion moved 
off in quest of the units it was to relieve. 
In less than an hour we came to the support- 
ing battalion, the officers of which, as far 
as their information went, believed them- 
selves to be in the front line. Upon in- 
quiring for the whereabouts of the two 
battalions we were to relieve, we were 
informed that all they knew about them 
was that they had attacked that afternoon 
and that nothing had been heard of them 
since. It seemed inconceivable that two 
whole battalions had been literally wiped 
out. Some one must be out there in front. 
The CO. gave orders for us to relieve this 
battalion. When this was completed I got 
hold of the scout corporal, and we started 
off in search of the missing battalions. 
After stumbling around in the darkness for 
half-an-hour we found three men in a shell- 
hole roughly organised for defence. Two 
belonged to one of the units we were to re- 
lieve and one to the other unit. 

' What has happened, boys, that you are 
separated from your battalions, ' I asked. 

' The machine-gun fire was so bad, sir,' 



THE WAENING WHISTLE 187 

one of them answered, ' that we were 
forced back, and all our officers have been 
killed or wounded. ' 

' Where are the rest of your battalions 1 ' 
* Scattered around in shell-holes, sir. ' 

* I suppose you Ve had a lot of casualties ?' 

* Yes, sir, there are not many of us left.' 

* Well, you can wait here. As soon as 
we find the whereabouts of the remainder 
of your battalions we '11 bring some men 
along to relieve you. ' 

This last piece of information seemed to 
give great satisfaction, and they readily 
indicated the direction where we might find 
the survivors of the battle. And so we 
continued our search, finding a couple of 
men in one shell-hole and half a dozen in 
another. 

I went back to our reserve company, ex- 
plained the matter to the company com- 
mander, and he agreed to bring his company 
forward to relieve the men out in front. 

It was almost daylight before this was 
completed. When daylight came it was 
found that our left flank was * up in the 
air ' — in other words we were not in touch 
with the battalion on our left, which left a 
gap (how wide we could not tell) between us. 



188 SCOUTING THKILLS 

I started out alone to find the where- 
abouts of this battalion. After many 
narrow escapes from being ' winged,' due 
to the attentions of Boche snipers, and also 
after travelling almost eight hundred yards, 
I finally * made connection.' Now that 
the gap was known to both battalions we 
could arrange to have it looked after. The 
problem now was — how far away was the 
Boche ? Once again it was the work of the 
scouts to find out, so, losing no time, I took 
a scout with me and started of£ in the 
direction of the Boche line. An old 
trench ran out in this direction, and we 
went out along this. It was shallow and 
we always had a good view on both sides 
of it. We expected to go two or three 
hundred yards before encountering any 
Boche, but this distance was passed and 
we had gone quite six hundred yards be- 
fore a single rifle shot rang out from a point 
about three hundred yards in front of us. 

* Well,' I remarked to the scout, ' I don't 
see the sense of us holding a line nearly 
a thousand yards from the Boche. If we 
don't push forward lie soon will, at least as 
soon as he finds out how far we are away 
from him. ' 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 189 

Just then we were attracted by a loud 
wMrring noise overhead, and a camouflaged 
aeroplane with the markings of the Maltese 
cross on it swooped down to within a hun- 
dred feet of us. It was a German single- 
seater scout. The pilot looked out over the 
side, circled round once, and then headed 
oH in the direction of Hun-land. 

' There he goes, ' I said ; * he 's seen us 
and thinks we are holding this ground. I 
don't see why we shouldn't be holding it, do 
you? ' 

* No, sir; it will make a good jumping-of£ 
place for the next attack. ' 

' Yes, exactly. I think we had better hurry 
back now and recommend pushing out 
some outposts to hold the ground. ' 

So we returned to headquarters and re- 
ported the situation. The CO. sent in- 
structions to the forward companies to 
push out outposts, and in this way our line 
was advanced six hundred yards without a 
casualty ! 

In the afternoon we received information 
that the British troops on our right were 
going to attack to clear out a village and 
seize some high ground. We were also in- 
formed that one of our brigades would 



190 SCOUTING THRILLS 

attack through us at daybreak on the 
following day, assembling for the attack 
at our newly-established outpost line. 

About four o'clock in the afternoon a 
heavy bombardment on our right brought 
us up out of our dug-out to watch the 
progress of the attack on our right. The 
village to be attacked was simply smothered 
with shells. It was two or three hours later 
that we heard of the complete success 
of the operation. The attack had been 
pushed home and an advance made be- 
yond the objectives, thus leaving the Huns 
in front of us in a narrow and dangerous 
salient. 

' Would the Huns wait for our attack ? ' 
was the question worrying the staff. It 
seemed feasible that they would not. If 
not, then an attack on the grand scale 
would be a mistake. If they had evacuated 
the trenches they were holding then we 
could quietly take possession of them and 
so avoid a useless expenditure of ammuni- 
tion, and, possibly, many precious human 
lives. Now, who was to find out if the Hun 
was still holding on"? — the scout, of course 
— so it came as no surprise to us when about 
eleven o'clock that night instructions came 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 191 

to ' send out scouts to ascertain if the 
enemy is still holding the trenches (naming 
them) opposite you.' 

Another prospective night's rest vanished. 
A few minutes after receiving this message 
I was out, in the blackest night imaginable, 
on my way to interview the Huns, with five 
scouts stumbling along after me. Our 
progress forward was helped considerably 
by the fitful glare from a burning village 
behind the Hun lines. Occasionally it 
flared up, showing up objects around us 
with startling and disturbing distinctness. 
We reached the line of our deserted out- 
posts, which had been withdrawn so as not 
to interfere with the assembling of the 
attacking battalions. A shallow trench ran 
out in the direction of the Hun lines. Re- 
volver in hand, I led the way along the 
trench. The dull red glow of the burning 
village acted as our guide. Prom what we 
had seen in our daylight patrol I knew that 
the Hun, if he was still holding on, was 
somewhere not very far in front of us. 
Wherever he was, we must startle him into 
life : it was the old business of making con- 
tact. Cautiously and with every sense 
keenly alert, I pushed along the shallow 



192 SCOUTING THEILLS 

trench followed by four faithful fighting 
scouts. The trench, after about two hun- 
dred yards, became deeper and showed 
signs of recent use. This was significant. 
Then the glare from the burning village 
died away and we were left to grope our 
way along in the black darkness. So dark 
was it that I had to feel my way forward 
along the side of the trench. There was no 
sound save the occasional shriek and whine 
of a shell passing overhead. Then some- 
thing seemed to hit my knees and I fell 
headlong into the trench. I was upon my 
feet instantly; but only just in time to 
prevent a scout from following headlong 
after me. Stretched tightly across the 
trench were two plain wires, the first about 
twelve inches from the bottom of the trench 
and the second about nine inches above the 
first. 

' Step over the wires, ' I whispered back. 

I now went forward feeling with both 
hands and feet. About ten yards further 
along I came to another plain single wire 
about three feet from the bottom of the 
trench. 

* Get underneath the wire,' I whispered 
to the scout behind me. 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 193 

Another ten yards and I ran into two 
more wires, one about two feet from the bot- 
tom of the trench and the other a foot above 
it. We safely negotiated these and con- 
tinued along the trench for a few more 
yards. I stopped suddenly. I could have 
sworn I heard a faint whistle. I listened 
intently for a few minutes but no other 
sound reached me. A few more yards and 
again a whistle — a little more distinct this 
time. I turned to the scout behind me. 

* Did you hear that ? ' I asked. 

* Yes, sir, somebody whistled. ' 

* So I thought. Did you hear it before ? ' 

* Yes, a few minutes ago I thought I 
heard it. ' 

I went silently and cautiously forward a 
few more yards, having, owing to the in- 
tense darkness, to feel my way along. I 
had the misfortune to touch some loose 
earth on the side of the trench. It only 
made a very slight noise, but promptly that 
warning whistle — ^much more distinct and 
closer — ^rang out again. Just then flames 
burst forth from the smouldering village, 
and I saw clearly outlined in front of me a 
huge mound of earth. 

* Wait here,' I whispered back, and then. 



194 SCOUTING THRILLS 

croucMng close to the side of the trench, 
I moved along until this mound towered 
above me. Another huge flame shot up 
from the village. I remained there, statu- 
esque. Then that whistle again, loud, clear, 
and distinct — sounding almost at my elbow. 
Breathless, I waited for something to 
happen. There was a blinding flash a few 
yards from my face and a flare light shot 
up ; it broke, throwing a bright white light 
over everything. I remained standing, but 
with an almost overpowering desire to turn 
and run. It seemed an eternity before I 
was once again enshrouded in darkness. 
I quietly withdrew until I rejoined the 
scouts. 

* A few more yards, ' I said, ' and I would 
have walked on top of them. They must 
be blind if they didn't see me. I 'm a bit 
suspicious of them. We '11 have to go back 
just as carefully as we came out.' 

So, passing the scouts, I led the way back. 
It was nearly two o'clock when I got back 
to headquarters. I immediately wired the 
result of my patrol to brigade, using, of 
course, the camouflage language which the 
circumstances demanded. 

The attack would be proceeded with at 



THE WARNING WHISTLE 195 

4.40 that morning. I was curious about the 
defenders of that mound and was not at all 
loath to carry out the instructions I re- 
ceived about seven o'clock that morning to 
proceed ahead of a company sent up to 
support the attacking battalion. 

The going forward was not to be without 
incident, for no sooner had I started ahead 
with my scouts than a swarm of Fokkers, 
not less than twenty-five in number, came 
circling overhead. They opened up with 
their machine guns and the noise was 
terrific. Bullets began to patter around 
us, but we plodded steadily ahead across the 
open, not a man being hit. We at last 
reached the protection of the trench where 
we had to remain to await further orders. 
In crossing over I had noticed the mound 
of my previous adventure. It was now a 
few yards behind the trench we were in. I 
moved over towards it. Around it were the 
evidences of a fierce fight — I counted twelve 
dead Huns, including an officer. Just then 
a sergeant of the attacking battalion came 
came along. 

* Looks as if you met with opposition here, 
sergeant, ' I remarked. 

* We certainly did, sir ; my platoon lost 



196 SCOUTING THRILLS 

eighteen good men taking this nest here. 
We captured eight machine guns and eigh- 
teen prisoners, besides what you see lying 
around dead, sir.' 

So these were the people who had almost 
had me as a visitor a few hours before. I 'm 
afraid if there had been any argument they 
would almost have had the best of it ! 



XI 

A BAYONET CHARGE 

THE incident of this story follows quickly 
upon the episode of ' The Warning 
Whistle.' 

At this time each day was so crowded with 
excitement and activity that it is difficult to 
select any particular incident which stands 
out strikingly above all others. They were 
days of hurried movement and ceaseless 
activity; attacks were conceived and 
launched successfully in the space of a few 
hours. The thorough and methodical 
gathering in of information, which gave 
such scope and variety to the activities of 
the scout, was abandoned. Attack followed 
upon attack with breathless rapidity ; every 
success was exploited to the utmost, and 
every local reverse was speedily overcome 
by the immediate launching of a new and 
successful attack. 

197 



198 SCOUTIXa THRILLS 

We were for ever on the move, and as 
all movement of bodies of troops was 
carried out in the night, it was the work 
of the scouts to * spy out the land ' in the 
daytime, and to guide the troops forward 
in the night. The word ' relief ' had become 
a nightmare to us, and it gave me no 
particular emotions of joy and pleasure 
when the CO. sent for me and informed me 
that there would be a relief that night; I 
was to report to X headquarters to arrange 
details and take my scouts forward to re- 
connoitre routes. It was a dirty business, 
for the forward area was being heavily 
shelled, and before we returned two of my 
scouts were wounded, one of them rather 
badly. 

I reported to X headquarters and found a 
colonel in charge of the relief arrange- 
ments. 

* Now, my boy,' he said, ' you will find 
things rather mixed up, and your unit will 
have to relieve elements of three battalions. 
There was severe fighting this morning, and 
we have not yet got complete information 
of the exact whereabouts of all units. ' 

Things were mixed up, and the prospects 
of a smooth and speedy relief looked very 



A BAYONET CHARGE 199 

remote. However, on paper, things looked 
fair, and with a bit of luck we might pull 
through successfully. I felt slightly opti- 
mistic when I returned to headquarters. I 
was, however, quite unprepared for the 
drastic alterations in the arrangements. 

* More alterations, M'Kean,' the CO. in- 
formed me as soon as I reported; * only 
one company will go into the front line 
instead of the two you have already 
arranged for.' 

* But what about the other one, sir? 
I have already arranged for guides to meet 
them. ' 

* Oh, you '11 have to find a place for them 
to-night; put them a few yards behind the 
front line company. In any case they will 
have to go up in support, for we are attack- 
ing at five o'clock in the morning.' 

* Attacking at five o'clock in the morning, 
sir! ' 

* Yes, a local attack to establish a ' jump- 
ing-off ' place for the big attack on the fol- 
lowing day.' 

The CO. then pointed out to me on a map 
the plan for the attack. The Huns 
were stubbornly holding on to a high 
dominating hillock known as the * Crows' 



200 SCOUTING THRILLS 

Nest.' This was to be cleared, and the at- 
tack pushed beyond it. 

* What about our arrangements for to- 
night, sir? It is too late to alter them 
now.' 

* You '11 have to go ahead yourself, 
M'Kean, and get them in the best way you 
can. We must be in position to attack 
before five o'clock.' 

It promised to be a most interesting night. 
Shortly before midnight I arrived at the 
rendezvous where the guides from the front 
line battalions were to meet us-^the junction 
of a road and trench. The guides were to 
be there at eleven o'clock, but none were in 
sight when I arrived. At any moment I 
expected to see the first company of our 
battalion arrive, and I had but the vaguest 
idea of where they had to go. Who would 
arrive first, the guides or the battalion? 
To keep a battalion on that road was to ask 
for casualties, for already the road had been 
heavily shelled. But the guides appeared 
first — about half an hour after midnight. 
I found the of&cer in charge of the 
guides. 

* How long will it take to get to the front 
line from here ? ' I asked. 



A BAYONET CHARGE 201 

* Not less than an hour. ' 

' The arrangements have been changed, 
and only one company goes into the line. ' 

* Where does the other company go ? ' 

^ They '11 have to get into shell-holes be- 
hind the front line; we are attacking at 
fiYQ o'clock.' 

' Attacking ! well, you 've certainly got 
to hustle to get into position. ' 

* I know we have ; the only thing for it 
is for the second company to keep touch with 
the first. ' 

* Yes, that 's what you '11 have to do.' 
The prospect of two companies, in single 

file, having to keep in touch, was a most 
distressing one. One o'clock arrived and 
still no sign of the battalion. Just then a 
salvo of shells came bouncing around us 
and we had to scuttle for cover. It was 
exactly 1.45 a.m. before the head of the 
battalion arrived at the rendezvous. The 
guides joined them, and they continued on 
to the front line. The second company 
followed closely behind. I saw the com- 
pany commander. 

' You '11 have to keep touch with the com- 
pany in front; there are no guides for 
you.' 



202 SCOUTING THRILLS 

* All right, Mac, we '11 see to that.' 

I then hurried on to the head of the 
battalion and came up alongside of the 
company commander. 

* Did you see the runners, Pat, with the 
operation orders for the attack ? ' I asked. 

* No, we didn't see them.' 

* That 's unfortunate, for they are not 
likely to arrive in time now; they 've 
missed you, I guess. Did you hear the 
news? ' 

* I heard that we are attacking at five 
o'clock in the morning. Do you know any 
of the details'? ' 

^ I have a general idea. We advance 
about fifteen hundred yards and dig in. 
It is a creeping barrage, but I don't know 
how fast it moves — about one hundred 
yards in three minutes, I should think. 
Just as soon as the barrage drops down we 
hop over.' 

Just then our conversation was inter- 
rupted by the cry, * lost connection in the 
rear.' 

The company commander halted and 
called back, ' Pass the word when every- 
body is closed up.' We resimied our con- 
versation. 



A BAYONET CHARGE 203 

* Have you any idea of the direction we 
go, Mac ? ' asked Pat. 

* Roughly due east,' I answered. ' We 
skirt along on the north side of the Crows' 
Nest and, as far as I can remember, we cross 
two trenches which the Hun is holding. ' 

* I suppose this is only a kind of local 
attack?' 

* Yes, the Crows' Nest has changed hands 
twice already. This time we intend to go 
well beyond it to establish a jumping-off 
place. ' 

Just then the word was passed along. 
* All closed up, ' so we moved forward again. 
It was a rough, slow journey. In places 
the trench was blown in and we had to 
climb out and back in again. Then we 
came to a road running through the trench. 
The guide halted. 

' A machine gun sweeps this road, sir, ' he 
said to the company commander, * we must 
hurry across.' 

* All right,' answered the company com- 
mander, * lead on.' Then he turned to the 
man behind him, ' Pass the word back to 
hurry across the road. ' 

The next obstacle was an old shelter in 
the trench. We had to climb first of all 



204 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

through a window and then out through a 
door in the other end. Lightly equipped 
as we were, it was no easy job to get through 
that window; for the men it was ahnost 
impossible. After getting through we went 
forward some distance and halted. I looked 
at my watch. It was three o 'clock. 

* I say, Pat, we 've got to do a big hustle 
to get that relief completed and in position 
by five o 'clock ! ' 

* Yes, we have, Mac, but we can't go 
ahead and leave half of the men behind. ' 

We moved forward again and at last 
reached the front line. 

' Wait here,' said the guide, * and I '11 
bring our company commander along. ' 

He returned soon afterwards, bringing the 
company commander with him. 

' Glad you have arrived,' said the com- 
pany commander; ' we '11 be darned glad 
to get out. Just let your men lead on. I 
have a sergeant here who will go ahead. 
Come round here and I '11 tell you all I know 
about things.' We followed him. ' I sup- 
pose you know we are attacking at five 
o 'clock *? ' I inquired . 

* No ! that 's the first I 've heard about it. 
We attacked up here yesterday. ' 



A BAYONET CHARGE 205 

' Did the Boche put up a fight ? ' 
' Not much of a one here : we cleared the 
whole of this trench out, took sixty prisoners 
and only had three casualties. ' 
' Well, that sounds cheering anyway.' 
' We 've just taken six prisoners,' con- 
tinued the company commander. ' A party 
of them came out- to establish a post ; one 
of my officers saw them, took a few men 
with him and attacked them. They killed 
three, took six prisoners, and the rest of 
the crowd scattered. The prisoners haven't 
come along yet, but they should be here 
soon. We '11 detain a couple of them and 
question them; we might get some useful 
information for you fellows.' 

* Thanks,' said Pat. ' Could you point 
out the Crows' Nest from here ? ' 

^ Sure, easily,' replied the company com- 
mander. ' Do you see where those ' heavies ' 
have just landed ? ' 

* Yes, over to the right,' said Pat. 

* Well, that 's the Crows' Nest; they 've 
simply smothered that place to-night; been 
dropping '* heavies " into it for the last 
five or six hours. I don't think there '11 
be any one left alive over there to give you 
any trouble.' 



206 SCOUTING THEILLS 

A few minutes later two prisoners arrived, 
one wounded, who was being carried on the 
back of the unwounded prisoner. They 
both were mere boys. They were Alsa- 
tians and spoke French. 

' I have a sergeant here, a French- 
Canadian, who speaks French, ' said Pat ; 
' he '11 ask him all the questions we wish to 
have answered.' 

' Righto,' said the company commander, 
* ask him first of all what division he belongs 
to, and how old he is 1 ' 

The sergeant put these questions to the 
unwounded prisoner. 

' The 123rd Division, sir; he is eighteen 
years of age. ' 

* Does he like the Germans ? ' 

' No, sir, he hates them, and says he 's glad 
he 's a prisoner. He says the Germans hate 
the Alsatians. ' 

* How long has he been in the German 
army? ' 

* Six months, sir.' 

* What were they doing out there to-night 
when we attacked them ? ' 

* They came out under an officer to estab- 
lish an outpost, sir; they didn't know that 
we were so close to them. ' 



A BAYONET CHAEGE 207 

* Are they expecting an attack ? ' 

* Yes, sir, he says they 're always expect- 
ing an attack now. He also says that they 
received orders to attack us at eleven o 'clock 
last night, but the order was cancelled, as 
they had no bombs, and very little ammuni- 
tion. ' 

* Are they getting enough to eat ? ' 

^ No, sir, he says that they Ve had no 
rations or water for two days. The ration 
parties go out but never return. Our shell- 
ing of the back areas is causing heavy 
casualties and they are unable to get up 
supplies. ' 

* Have they been having many casualties ? ' 
' Yes, sir, he says his company have been 

in the line three days and have lost eighty 
men out of one hundred and ten.' 

The company commander turned to Pat: 
* I think that 's about all we want to know. 
Is there anything else you would like to ask 
him? ' 

* Yes ; ask him if the two trenches 
opposite are heavily manned. ' 

* Yes, sir, ' said the sergeant, ' he says they 
have quite a lot of machine guns in them.' 

* All right,' said Pat, ' I'm satisfied with 
that information. ' 



208 SCOUTING THRILLS 

The two prisoners then continued their 
way out. The company that had been re- 
lieved started to file past us. Our second 
company then came along, went along the 
front line, then climbed out of the trench 
and went back a few yards into shell-holes. 
Pat and myself then went along the front 
line. 

* Can you give me a job, Pat? ' I asked, 
' for I intended to go over in some capacity 
or other. ' 

* All right, Mac ; one of my platoons hasn't 
an officer, and I 'd be glad if you would 
take it over. ' 

^ Righto, lead me to it. By the way, we 
haven't much time to waste, Pat; it 's 4.30 
now — only half an hour before we go over. ' 

I found the platoon sergeant of the 
platoon I was attached to. 

' Take me round amongst the boys in the 
platoon, sergeant; I want to have a little 
chat with them, for I 'm going over with 
you.' 

' All right, come this way, sir. ' 

I found that about half a dozen of them 
had only joined the battalion that night, and 
it was their first experience of warfare. 
Rather a rough introduction I thought. 



A BAYONET CHARGE 209 

' Now, boys,' I said, ' as soon as our 
barrage drops down I '11 bop over tbe top, 
and I want every man- jack of you to follow. 
You '11 feel a bit shaky when our barrage 
drops down, for there '11 be such an ungodly 
noise; but just watch it — keep close behind 
the bursting shells, but don't get underneath 
them. It will be nothing but a walk over 
if you do this. ' 

The boys were now only impatient for the 
fun to commence. At ten minutes to five 
the faint grey light of dawn appeared, the 
last that many a brave lad was to see. But 
I am sure that no such thoughts saddened 
or daunted the brave hearts of the boys 
around me. We laughed and joked and 
lighted our cigarettes. I was alternately 
climbing up and down from the firing step. 
At three minutes to five the dim outline of 
the Crows' Nest became visible. Our 
heavies were still crashing into it, and a 
pall of smoke hung about it. I pulled out my 
revolver, passed the word along to get 
ready, and then sat on the parapet waiting. 
Then it came, that fiendishly destructive, 
but friendly barrage of ours! The shells 
screamed and shrieked overhead and burst 
into flame in front of us. I jumped up. 



210 SCOUTING THRILLS 

* Come on, boys,' I yelled, and started 
forward. 

The light was still very faint. Behind 
me I saw the dim shadowy figures of men 
following me; in front of me, that wall of 
flame and iron. The German barrage now 
came down, mingling with ours. The noise 
was deafening, but above it all rang out 
the voices of our boys, yelling and cheering 
as they came straggling forward. The more 
enthusiastic and adventurous rushed past 
me. 

* Come back,' I yell after them; * do you 
want to get into the barrage? ' They 
hesitate, then come back; but one party, 
more adventurous than the rest, turned back 
too late. One of our own shells bursts in 
amongst them, and when the smoke clears 
away only two of them. come limping back. 
We wait a minute for the barrage to lift; 
the boys continue to shout and cheer, and 
we move forward upon a wave of excite- 
ment. During a pause one boy rushed up to 
me: 

* Have a cigarette, sir ? ' 

* Yes, thanks, I will. Have you a 
match? ' 

* Yes, sir, light up.' 



A BAYONET CHAEGE 211 

The barrage lifts and we surge forward 
again in the semi-darkness. The white out- 
line of a trench shows up a few yards in 
front; the barrage has just lifted from it. 

* Come on, boys,' I shout, and there is a 
wild rush forward. We clamber over the 
wire and meet the Huns climbing out of the 
trench. * Kamerad! Kamerad ! ' they 
shout hysterically. Laughingly some of 
the boys give them a poke with their 
bayonets, and the Huns scurry wildly past 
us. We jump the trench and follow the 
barrage. Everybody is shouting encourage- 
ment to the other fellow. The light is 
getting better. Through the smoke of the 
barrage I see the outline of a second trench. 
As we move up closer I see several round 
significant objects lying on the parapet — 
machine guns! If they get only one of 
them into action the result will be catas- 
trophe ! Just then one of our ofi&cers came 
up. Although yelling at the top of his 
voice I barely heard him say : 

* What about a bayonet charge ? ' 

^ Yes,' I shouted back, ' the very thing.' 

* All right, I have a whistle here ; when I 
blow it we '11 all rush forward. ' 

* Righto, we '11 be with you.' 



212 SCOUTING THRILLS 

' A bayonet charge, ' I yelled, ' everybody 
for a bayonet charge. ^ 

' A bayonet charge ! a bayonet charge ! ' 
was the cry everj^where around me. Some 
of the boys laughingly felt the points of their 
bayonets. 

* All ready, ' I shouted. 

* Yes, sir, ' came back the reply. 

I signalled to the other officer — ^he blew 
his whistle and we made a wild rush for- 
ward, uttering the most weird, blood-curd- 
ling cries. A solitary machine gun spat out 
for a few seconds, and two or three bombs 
were thrown from the trench, and then we 
were on top of them! The Huns made a 
brief effort at resistance, but it was short- 
lived. Then they shrieked for mercy — but it 
was too late! We collected eight machine 
guns, enough, if bravely handled, to wipe out 
a whole battalion. Then we continued our 
triumphant progress. It was almost day- 
light now. We followed up our barrage 
until it ceased to move forward and became 
protective. 

* Come on; string out everybody and 
dig in,' I yelled. 

Pat came along. 

* Hullo, Pat, how 's it going ? ' 



A BAYONET CHARGE 213 

* Fine, but we 've got to dig in now/ 

' Yes, we '11 soon have everybody working 

bard. ' 

A few minutes later I looked over to tbe 
left, where a Boche machine-gun nest was 
still in action. As the boys closed in on 
them they began to waver. Then I saw a 
Boche officer do a characteristically dirty 
German trick. Only one gun was firing 
spasmodically; our men were working 
their way forward, running from shell-hole 
to shell-hole. I watched it all from a flank 
from where I could plainly see everything 
that happened. I saw men manning three 
other guns, though they were not firing a 
shot. The reason for this soon became 
evident. The Boche officer seized hold of a 
man and pushed him out in front of the 
trench. The man seemed most unwilling 
to go. The officer then threatened him 
with a revolver. Then the meaning of all 
this by-play flashed upon me as the Hun 
came stumbling forward with his hands over 
his head. At the same time two Huns got 
out of the trench and ran back. It was a 
bluff— a trap! I held my breath as I 
watched events develop. Would our men 
get up and go forward believing that the 



214 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

Huns had given up the fight? If so, then 
those three guns would all open up on them. 
I watched and waited in breathless sus- 
pense, and then I gave a shout of joy as 
several rifles spurted fire, and the surrender- 
ing Hun toppled over dead. The ruse had 
failed ! 

Our shell-fire was now diminishing, and 
we were all busy digging in. The position 
was a most unenviable one. We were being 
enfiladed with machine guns from a flank. 
Moving from shell-hole to shell-hole was 
dangerous business. I saw Pat go down 
with a bullet wound in the leg, and an 
officer with me received a bullet through the 
head. Then a Hun plane came over and 
provided us with a thrill. He saucily 
circled overhead, swooping down until his 
machine ahnost touched the ground. He 
outstayed his welcome, though. One of our 
Lewis gunners fired a short burst and Mr. 
Hun came crashing to earth to the accom- 
paniment of wild cheers from the troops. 

Then the Fokker * circus' devoted their 
attention to us in a rather mean fashion. 
About twenty-five of them came circling 
overhead at a height of about five hundred 
feet and cahnly unloaded their baggage of 



A BAYONET CHARGE 215 

bombs upon us. For the space of a few 
minutes we were all extremely uncomfort- 
able. The last and most exciting incident in 
a day of incidents was when a runner, fol- 
lowing behind me as I ran from shell-hole to 
shell-hole, had the few bristles on his upper 
lip (which he designated by the rather ambi- 
tiously descriptive term of a moustache) 
very cleanly shot off by a machine-gun bul- 
let ! It was literally the closest shave that I 
had ever seen — either inside or outside of a 
barber's shop ! Later in the day I was back 
in headquarters, eating a meal that had been 
postponed for twenty-four hours, reciting, 
with very great satisfaction, the details of 
our hurricane and successful bayonet 
charge. 



XII 
CAPTUEING A VILLAGE 

/^N the night of the day of the bayonet 
^^ charge, instructions came through 
for the big attack of the following day. It 
was an attack ambitiously planned. 

First of all, the famous Wotan Switch was 
to be broken through, and then we were to 
sweep forward, over-running several vil- 
lages and trench systems, until we finally 
reached the Canal Du Nord. Battalion was 
to ' leap-frog ' battalion ; brigade to ' leap- 
frog ' brigade, and finally division was to 
* leap-frog ' division ! At the end of the day 
the first attacking wave would be left miles 
behind! Behind the attacking infantry 
were legions of cavalry and swarms of 
motor machine guns, which were to add 
the final touch to the discomifiture of the 
Hun. Tanks were to attack with the in- 
fantry; low-flying aeroplanes would also 

216 



CAPTUKING A VILLAGE 217 

be there to assist. Before our gaze would 
be spread the whole panorama of battle: 
the might of the British Army would irre- 
sistibly sweep forward, driving the Hun 
before it, recapturing the soil of glorious, 
suffering France! 

A spirit of confidence prevailed every- 
where. Victory was as certain twelve hours 
before the attack as it was twelve hours after 
it. 

Our battalion was to leap-frog another 
battalion in our brigade who were to start 
the ball rolling. The ' kick-off ' was to be 
shortly after five o'clock, and we came into 
the game at eight o'clock. The CO. ex- 
plained the details of the attack to me. We 
were to attack through a fairly large village, 
and then sweep on through a wood just be- 
yond it. The depth of the advance was to 
be a little over two miles. 

' You will take your scouts up with you, 
M'Kean,' the CO. concluded. ' After we 
get through the village and into the open 
I want your scouts to push ahead of the 
battalion, the same way as practised for 
open fighting. Here are a number of 
message maps on which they will send back 
reports. Distribute these amongst them 



218 SCOUTING THRILLS 

before the attack starts. Impress upon 
them all the necessity of frequent reports. 
We want to know exactly what the situation 
is in front.' 

I saw the scouts, distributed the maps, 
and explained the details of the attack to 
them. 

At six o'clock the next morning, almost 
an hour after the attack had started, I left 
headquarters at the head of ten scouts — 
moving forward in single file. As far as the 
eye could see were (what we called) little 
* blobs ' of men moving forward. Spread 
out in this fashion, they lessened the risks 
of sustaining heavy casualties, a single 
shell rarely claiming more than half a 
dozen victims. Already, behind us we 
could see some of the artillery limbering 
up ready to move forward. The smoke of 
bursting shells ahead indicated our barrage. 
Coming back out of the battle were many 
cheery walking wounded, and swarms of 
prisoners, many of them without escort, 
came trooping past. It was a scene of 
animated movement, and it showed that all 
our confidence had been justified — for the 
famous Wotan Switch was battered, broken, 
and lost for ever to the Germans. As we ap- 



CAPTURING A VILLAGE 219 

proached it, we were amazed at the masses 
of wire protecting it: three distinct 
belts averaging forty feet in depth, be- 
fore the first trench was reached! In 
other words, there were one hundred and 
twenty feet of dense wire entanglements 
between us and their front line trench, and 
our men went through it ! The trench was 
a first class one, deep and well constructed, 
with immense dug-outs, and an abundance 
of concrete machine-gun emplacements. It 
was the dug-outs that had been Fritz's 
undoing — he had stayed down in them until 
invited by our men to come out and sur- 
render. If he had ever shown the same 
bravery in fighting as he showed alacrity 
in surrendering, the war would not yet have 
been won. Here and there we saw a dead 
German — but very few. The bulk of them 
preferred shameless surrender to heroic 
dying. 

In between his front and support line was 
another continuous mass of wire, flattened 
out in places by our tanks — some of which 
we saw moving leisurely around ahead of 
us. As we watched their unconcerned 
rambling movements it gave a touch of 
unreality to the whole scene. It seemed 



220 SCOUTING THRILLS 

impossible to realise that a tremendous 
decisive battle was being fought. The 
realism was soon disturbingly evident to 
us all again though, as his heavy ' crumps ' 
began to bounce around us. 

We at last arrived at the Hun support 
line, where our battalion was assembling 
to carry on the attack. In front of this 
line was a protective barrage of ^ heavies,' 
most of them falling in the village we had 
to attack, which lay in a hollow about three 
hundred yards in front of us. Leading 
down to the village was a sunken road. I 
got into the trench at a point where this 
road cut through it. A few men belonging 
to the battalion which had led off the attack 
were sitting around having a smoke. I 
inquired if any of them had seen men of 
my own battalion around. 

' Yes, sir, they 're gone. ' 

* Gone! gone where? ' 

* They are carrying on with the attack, 
sir; they left here more than five minutes 
ago.' 

I looked at my watch — ten minutes to 
eight and the attack was not to take place 
until eight. 

* Come on, boys,' I said to the scouts, 



CAPTURING A VILLAGE 221 

* the battalion is out in front somewhere. 
I 'm pretty sure they are not in that vil- 
lage; if they are, they are having a warm 
time.' 

We climbed out of the trench and went 
a few yards down the road when, looking 
to my left, I saw one of our company com- 
manders, with a few men, sitting in a shell- 
hole. I at once hurried over to him. 

^ Hullo, John,' I said, ' where 's your 
company? ' 

* Scattered around somewhere, Mac. We 
started too soon and got into our own 
barrage. I thought we were too soon, but 
I saw them moving forward on the right so 
I went ahead, thinking that my watch 
might be wrong. ' 

' No, it 's only ten minutes to eight now, 
and that barrage of heavies doesn't lift from 
the village until eight o'clock.' 

^ Yes, that 's what the operation order 
says.' 

* How many of your company have you 
around here ? ' 

^ Only headquarters — about twenty all 
told, including the headquarters' Lewis gim 
section. ' 

* Well, I have ten scouts with me; I don't 



222 SCOUTING THRILLS 

see why we can't have a shot at taking 
that village as soon as the barrage lifts. If 
we can only get in there right afterwards I 
don't think there '11 be much opposition.' 

' Righto, Mac, I 'm game. As soon as it 
is eight o'clock we '11 push off.' 

In the meantime our position was any- 
thing but an enviable one. The Boche, 
angry at losing his valuable and supposedly 
impregnable system of defences known as 
the Wotan Switch, was viciously pounding 
them with 5.9 's. More than one came 
perilously close to us, in fact several just 
missed us by a matter of a few yards. 

* I don't mind how soon eight o'clock 
comes around, John, do you ? ' 

' Not at all, Mac, there are surely more 
peaceful places in Prance than this particu- 
lar spot here.' 

' Well, it only wants three minutes ; 
what do you say if we gather the men 
together from the shell-holes and so be 
ready to move off prompt ? ' 

' All right, we had better do that. ' 

A couple of minutes later between fifteen 
and twenty of us were standing together, 
when one unlucky 5.9 landed square in 
amongst us. I felt something hot, for all 



CAPTURINa A VILLAGE 223 

the world like a liot cinder, go into my leg, 
and knew I was hit. The scout corporal 
who was with me fell on his face, killed 
instantly. When the smoke cleared away 
only two or three were left standing. John 
lay stretched out, hit in two places, while 
most of my scouts were casualties. I 
limped over to John. 

* Badly hit ? ' I inquired. 

* Only two chunks in me, I can't walk 
though. Not a very nice beginning for our 
attack. ' 

^ No, but it 's eight o'clock and we must 
push off. I 'm hit in the leg but I can carry 
on for a little while.' 

* Well, good luck, Mac' 

' Thanks,' I replied, ^ don't worry about 
us ; we '11 get on all right. ' 

I then detailed some men to bandage up 
the wounded and to see that they were all 
got out ; collected the remnant, amounting to 
eight men and a Lewis gun, and went down 
the road to attack the village. As far 
as I could see we were the only ones 
moving, though I knew it would only be 
a question of minutes before reinforcements 
followed up. We had not gone far before 
we found some work to do. About one 



224 SCOUTING THRILLS 

hundred yards down the sunken road lead- 
ing into the village we came to our first dug- 
out. I shouted down and there was in- 
stantly a chorus of ' Kamerads ' from the 
depths of it. I trifled with my German : 

* Kommen Sie up hier or we '11 shoot you 
verdamtt quick.' 

* Ya ! Ya ! ' came back a chorus of agree- 
ment, which was very gratifying to the pride 
I felt in the fluency of my German. 

In a few seconds a German appeared 
scrambling up the dug-out steps, trying 
his best to get a footing on the broken wood- 
work and at the same time to keep his hands 
above his head in the approved style of the 
* Kamerading ' German. There was the 
bang of a rifle at my elbow and the Hun 
toppled backwards, and a chorus of shouts, 
shrieks, and moans came from the assembled 
Huns below. I turned and saw a scout 
standing with a smoking rifle in his hand and 
a broad, expansive smile on his face. 

^ Now you Ve done it,' I exclaimed 
angrily, * we'll never get those Huns out 
of that dug-out in a blue moon now. You 
can stay here and persuade them to come 
out, but you '11 not have to use such harsh 
methods.' 



CAPTURING A VILLAGE 225 

So, leaving another man with him, I went 
along to the next dug-out. After some little 
persuasion seven trembling Huns, with the 
fear of death in their eyes, trooped up and 
accepted with alacrity our invitation to 
hustle back along the road in the direction 
of our lines. 

There were three more dug-outs to be 
* mopped up ' before we reached the village, 
so, being anxious to get into the village as 
quickly as possible, I left four men there 
to do the ' mopping up,' and pushed on, 
with a corporal and a scout, into the 
village. 

Believing it to be unwise to follow the road 
directly into it, we branched off to the left, 
skirted round the back of a house, 
passed through an orchard, climbed over 
the debris of a broken-down wall, and found 
ourselves in the village square — with the 
village church opposite. 

What happened now seems incredible. 
Looking out of the doors and windows of 
the houses facing on to the square were 
scores of scared-looking Huns! I gave a 
gasp of astonishment. This was certainly 
walking into trouble, I thought. For a 
moment I was dumbfounded, momentarily 



226 SCOUTING THRILLS 

expecting the Huns to open up on us — for 
we were frightfully outnumbered. For a 
few seconds we stood there and stared at 
one another. Then I started waving my 
arm wildly as though encouraging scores of 
men on my right and left to come for- 
ward. 

' Come on, the old Fourteenth, ' I shouted, 
^ walk into them ! Come on, you 're the 
boys that can do it! ' About fifty yards in 
front of me were two husky Huns watching 
me through the paneless windows of a 
fairly large house. One of them was a tall 
fellow, well over six feet, wearing a heavy 
black moustache and carrying his full load 
of equipment. Still shouting and waving 
my revolver over my head, I made a wild 
rush at him. He promptly turned, dropped 
his rifle, and ran for his life ! This was the 
deciding act, the cue to the rest of the Huns. 
Their rifles clattered noisily, as they threw 
them as far from them as they could, then 
scrambled out of the houses and * footed ' 
it for all they were worth! I was soon in 
the midst of a mob of fleeing Huns, running 
as hard as they were, and keeping my eye on 
my particular quarry. Hampered as he 
was with his huge papk I soon caught up 



CAPTURING A VILLAGE 227 

to him, pulled him over, and stood flourish- 
ing my revolver over him. 

^Kamerad! Kamerad!' he yelled pite- 
ously. I gave him a couple of healthy 
kicks, assisted him to his feet, gave him a 
parting kick and sent him scurrying back 
in the direction of our lines. 

Once again with the Huns it was a case of 

* follow my leader.' Seeing the tall one 
of the black moustache running wildly back 
towards our lines, the majority of them 
promptly turned round and followed him, 
while we stood by and calmly looked on. 
At least fifty Huns went past us. Looking 
around I could see, at a distance, scores more 
of them making frantic efforts to get 
away. 

* Come on, boys,' I called to the two with 
me, * let us cut them off.' We ran down a 
street leading out from the square for a 
distance of about seventy-five yards until 
we came to a main road running through the 
village. Turning to the left along this, we 
had only gone a few yards when we met a 
crowd of frightened looking Huns making 
a wild dash for freedom. We simply 

* shooed ' them back, and they ran as 
madly in the other direction. We kept 



228 SCOUTING THEILLS 

running up and down this road, meeting 
Huns endeavoring to escape down the side 
streets leading on to the road. In every 
direction we could see fleeing Huns, and it 
was a case of simply directing the traffic. 
Not one of them offered any opposition. 
Once we saw several dash round opposite 
sides of a house, and meet violently and un- 
expectedly. They scrambled to their 
feet and dashed off again in different 
directions. Panic wasn't the word for it! 
We couldn't believe it was a war — it was 
more like a pantomime! I couldn't help 
it, I just leaned up against a house and 
laughed — it was all so comical. 

We had now a mob of running Huns be- 
hind us — at least two hundred, I calculated 
— and a mob fleeing in front of us. With 
many of them it was a toss up which way 
they ran, and with many others they seemed 
to have no idea of which way they were 
running; merely to be running seemed to 
satisfy them. 
I remarked to the scout with me : 
' Look here, none of our battalion have 
showed up yet, and we have a mob of Huns 
behind us. If they get wise to things, they 
may turn back and take us along with them ! 



CAPTURINa A VILLAGE 229 

I think we had better wait here until some 
one turns up.' 

I had scarcely finished speaking when I 
saw the scout who had attempted to dis- 
courage the Huns from surrendering 
approaching. 

* Hullo,' I called out, * are any of the bat- 
talion coming up ? ' 

* Yes, sir, ' he answered. 

^ Well, go back and hustle them along.' 
Soon afterwards we saw about a score of 
our men approaching, so we hurried on 
down the road through the village. But I 
must describe an incident that happened 
while we were waiting on that road. 

A German officer came from a side street 
about seventy-five yards to the left of 
where we were standing. He glanced back 
at us and then continued his dignified walk. 

* Take a crack at him with your rifle,' I 
said to the corporal. He did. The bullet 
missed, but the Hun officer gave a quick 
glance backward and perceptibly increased 
his pace, while endeavouring to maintain 
his dignity. 

* Take another one,' I said. 

This time it caught him in the arm and 
bowled him over. He scrambled to his feet, 



230 SCOUTINa THRILLS 

gave one wild glance backwards, abandoned 
his dignity, and disappeared down the road 
as fast as his legs could carry him ! 

We followed on down this road until we 
came to the outskirts of the village. About 
five hundred yards away we could see the 
wood we had to go through. Running 
wildly towards its protection were at least 
three hundred Huns. 

* Go back and bring a Lewis gun along, ' I 
said. 

Soon afterwards it arrived and kicked up 
the dust at the heels of the retreating Huns. 
There was many a wild glance backwards, 
and no one attempted to stay behind with 
those who were hit. 

About one hundred yards farther along 
there was a bend in the road. I had seen 
scores of Huns disappear round this bend, 
and had wondered where they had all gone 
to. Leaving the Lewis gunners to do their 
execution, I ran down towards the bend in 
the road, followed by a scout. It ran into a 
cutting with sides about twelve feet high. 
Standing at the entrance to a dug-out was 
a little German captain, holding a map in 
his hand. I ran forward, rather breathless, 
seized his map and stood looking at him. 



CAPTURINa A VILLAGE 231 

He smiled genially and pointed down the 
dug-out entrance. I looked down. It was 
too dark down there to see anything, but 
I heard the murmur of many excited voices. 
I motioned to the captain to bring them up. 
He assented with a smile, and very soon 
afterwards the Huns started trooping out. 
As each one came out I pointed up the road 
and gave them a good healthy kick, which 
none of them waited to have repeated. I 
had expected ten or twelve Huns to come 
up, but the number ahnost reached forty 
before the captain made a sign that they 
were all gone. He pointed to another dug- 
out a few yards further on. 

* All right,' I said, ' shoot 'em up.' 
He called down the dug-out, and very soon 
more Huns appeared. They all received 
the same impartial treatment. Some of 
them made a grimace, and many of them 
forgot, for a moment, to hold their 
hands above their heads in the approved 
* Kamerad ' style. 

Included amongst the prisoners were 
two officers who, in the excitement and 
exuberance of the moment, received the 
same undignified treatment. This dug-out 
yielded thirty more prisoners. The captain 



232 SCOUTING THRILLS 

then indicated a third dug-out, smiling 
broadly all the time. 

* What, some more ! ' I exclaimed. * Why, 
you have enough men here to hold half a 
dozen villages if you only knew how to 
fight. If your gang is an example of a mili- 
tary nation may the Lord always preserve 
us from being one! ' 

But nothing could take the smile off the 
Grerman captain's face. He proceeded to 
persuade the occupants of the third dug-out 
to come out, and over forty of them filed past 
us. Despite the fact that I only had one leg 
in working order I still proceeded to dole 
out my particular brand of an affectionate 
farewell. Altogether we collected well over 
one hundred prisoners from those three 
large dug-outs. When the last German had 
gone we walked a few yards down the road 
until clear of the cutting. On the left of the 
road, about two hundred yards away, we saw 
German artillerymen getting ready to aban- 
don their guns. Giving a whoop, the two of 
us started running towards them. The Ger- 
man gunners fled precipitately, and we were 
soon scratching the number 14 on two 
smoking 5.9 's. 

Just then I was on the point of collapsing. 



CAPTURING A VILLAGE 233 

I had had no bandage on my wound yet and 
had lost a lot of blood, but even now there 
was to be no rest. 

The left flank had not come up, and some 
German field guns, not more than six hun- 
dred yards on our left, were switched on 
to us, firing at us over open sights. We 
were forced back to take shelter, and re- 
joined the rest of the battalion, which was 
now swarming through the village. I sat 
down, bandaged up my leg and then, leaning 
on the arm of the scout, started back up the 
road. When we came to the three dug-outs 
I was amazed and furious to see the little 
German captain standing there. 

* What the devil are you doing here,' I 
cried angrily, ' I sent you out ages ago.' ^ 

But nothing could repress that ingratiat- 
ing smile of his. He rushed over to me and 
got hold of my arm. - 

' Ah, monsieur blesse ? ' and motioned me 
into the dug-out. I was feeling a bit faint, 
so went in. 

The Hun artillery was now turned on to 
the village, and houses were toppling over. 
Just as we were starting back a tank came 
ambling up the road; the door opened and 
the tank officer stepped out. 



234 SCOUTING THRILLS 

^ Hullo, good morning,' he said, * is this ' 
(naming a village) ? 

* No, but you see that place about a mile 
over to the left ? ' 

* Yes,' he replied. 

* Well, that 's the spot you want.' 

He climbed back into his tank and started 
off for the village. The tank offered an 
excellent target for the anti-tank guns, and 
it was not long before they put it out of ac- 
tion. Skirting the village, I followed for 
some distance in the wake of the tank, but 
the Hun machine gunners got their eye on 
me and, though wounded and limping along 
with the aid of a stick and the arm of a scout, 
they did their best to get me, and we had to 
scamper as best we could from shell-hole to 
shell-hole. 

When we got back out of range we saw 
thrilling sights. Everything was moving 
forward — tanks, artillery and infantry — to 
carry on the attack. It was a most inspiring 
spectacle, an example of that calm splendid 
confidence in our ability to beat the 
Hun. 

It was my last battle. I limped painfully 
out of the war with the feeling that a trium- 
phant ending was fast approaching. 



CAPTURING A VILLAGE 235 

A few weeks later, to use a descriptive 
American phrase, the Hun * quit cold.' 
Despite all that I have seen written about 
the bravery of the German soldiers, I saw 
very little of it that day, and the most satis- 
fying memory of all is that of my last day in 
the war, when I booted so many scores into 
captivity I 



THE END 



Printed in the United States of America. 



The following pages contain advertisements of a 
few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects. 



Ambulance 464. Encore des Blesses 

Illustrated by Many Photographs 

Cloth, izmo, $1.50 

"The writer was 17 and a freshman at Princeton, but these are not merits in 
themselves. The gift of his youth is that he saw and told everything frankly without 
any of the acquired literary or temperamental pose. His view is as direct and healthy 
as the vision of a child, and his spirits are as sound as a cheerful schoolboy's. . . . 
It needs an intimately personal character, boyish and yet vivid and wide-awake, like 
this one, to show us what the war means to the lads and how little it dashes their 
fresh spirits." — The New York Sun. 

"An account of the war as youth sees it, written in a studied, unsophisticated 
way that is most appealing. . . . The most moving of war books, unpretentious, 
vivid. So matter of fact is it in its simple telling of what soon appeared the natural 
thing in life to its writer, that the great impression given by the book is continually 
intensified and heightened." — The Princeton Alumni Weekly. 



With the Flying Squadron 

Illustrated, cloth, izmo, $1.25 

"A stirring narrative of adventure which gives the reader many a thrill and which 
shows an entirely new side of the war — distinctly new in that this is the first great 
conflict in which the aeroplane has played an important part. One does not see the 
horror of warfare in Mr. Rosher's writing, as the air-pilot is apparently further re- 
moved from scenes of bloodshed and carnage than other officers in the service ; it is 
largely a feeling of exhilaration, of breathless daring which he experiences, and these 
characteristics are well imparted to the reader in Mr. Rosher's sketches." — Phil- 
adelphia Press. 

"There is perhaps no book in the entire round of warlike publications which gives 
to the civilian so strong a sense of the utter recklessness of the assured certainty of 
the aviator's eventual fate. . . . There has been heretofore published no such 
ample, convincing portrayal of the life of an air-fighter as is disclosed in these letters. 
. . . Lieutenant Rosher's terse, dramatic letters vividly foreshadow the new period 
and method of warlike adventure." 

"One of the most fascinating documents which the war has produced." 

— Churchman. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

PnblisherB 64-66 Fifth Ayenue Hew York 



The Flaming Crucible 



By ANDRE FRIBOURG 

Translated by A. B. Maurice 

ti.50 

Under the title Croire, this autobiography of a French infantryman was published 
in Paris in 1917. It is a revelation of the French spirit. It is rather a biography of 
the spirit, than an account of the amazing experiences M. Fribourg encountered, 
from rgii at Agadir, through the fighting on the Meuse, and part of the campaign in 
Flanders. The descriptions are memorable for their beautiful style, their pathos or 
their elevation. There is a definite climax toward the end where M. Fribourg 
returns to a hospital in Paris, broken and dulled, his faith momentarily befogged. 
Gradually he readapts himself, regains and confirms his faith in the human 
spirit that was so vivid when he lived with his fellow soldiers. 

"All this, with sanity, simplicity and sincerity and in a language of almost classical 
restraint, as a rule, but engagingly piquant and picturesque and fantastic even upon 
occasions." — Boston Evening Transcript. 



A War Nurse's Diary 

By M. E. CLARK 

Illustrated, cloth, $1.25 

"Unlike most volumes which have dealt with this subject, the nurse gives some 
delightful reminiscences which are more closely identified with impressions recorded 
in her heart than with conventional entries in a diary. The inspired recollections of 
the author constitute an important contribution to war Uterature." 

— Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger. 

"To say that 'A War Nurse's Diary' is an unusual book, the only one of its 
kind, would be putting the matter much too mildly. In fact, it seems nothing short 
of a miracle that any woman should be willing to enlist for such service as the author 
of this volume, and, having enlisted, that she should survive to write about it." 

— Chicago Evening Post. 



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Fabliihars 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



Under Orders : The Story of Tim and 
" The Club " 

By HAROLD S. LATHAM 
Illustrated by E. C. Caswell 

Cloth, izmo, $1.50 

" Under Orders : The Story of Tim and the Club is a story that boys and grown-ups 
of all ages will enjoy without a doubt ; a story that belongs to the American boy of the 
present day. It is a story that is really valuable. Through the adventures and 
experiences of Tim, the lad of today may get many pointers on how to be an effective 
American." — New York Sun. 

"The story is thoroughly entertaining. Boys will find it as fascinating as the 
proverbial Indian tale or detective yarn. It is also elevating — we do not mean that 
word in its banal misuse, but rather as a synonym for instructive, inspiring and 
whatnot, all in one; and it is that in a deft, tactful, unobtrusive way, teaching by 
engaging example rather than by prosy precept. Mr. Latham evidently has a 
knowledge of boy nature which is at once keen, discriminating and sympathetic, and 
he has written a book which boys will love to read and which their elders will heartUy 
approve their reading." — The New York Tribune. 



The Year at Lincoln High 

By JOSEPH GOLLOMB 
With illustrations by E. C. Caswell 

Cloth, izmo, $1.50 

"A fine story of public school life in a big city. The story abounds in hotly 
contested athletic meets, ball games and secret society initiations. It is vivid, ex- 
citing and gives a good idea of the democratizing process going on in our public 
schools today." — San Francisco Chronicle. 

"Mr. GoUomb has told his story exceedingly well." — Evening Post. 

"This is one of the best stories of life in a big boys' public school we have ever 
seen. The author has the unusual knack of being able to write for boys and about 
boys without writing down to boys. There are in the story action, fun, and char- 
acter." — The Outlook. 



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FublisherB 61-66 Fifth Avenue Kew Tork 



Jim : The Story of a Backwoods Police Dog 

By major CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS 
Author of "The Backwoodsmen," "Kings in Exile," etc. 

Cloth, ismo, $1.50 

Here we have a new dog hero, "Jim," enUsted in the service of 
the backwoods police. Out of his experiences, Major Roberts has 
made a most entertaining — and frequently thrilling — book. Few 
writers know animal nature as does Major Roberts, stiU fewer are 
able to write as sympathetically and intelligently of their ways. Jim 
wiU undoubtedly be welcomed into the company of dog heroes, for he 
is a real dog and a thoroughly likeable one. In addition to the story 
of Jim, which comprises the bulk of the book, there are three other 
animal stories, all in Mr. Roberts' best vein : Stripes, The Un- 
concerned ; The Mule, and The Eagle. 

The present work shows the author at his best; it is a pleasing 
addition to his series of outdoor tales. 

The Pirate of Jasper Peak 

By ADAIR ALDON 
Author of "The Island of Appledore" 

Illustrated, cloth, i2mo, $1.50 
"Almost any boy will enjoy 'The Pirate of Jasper Peak.' It is a 
regular boys' story of the Montana forest region and contains many 
of those adventures so clear to the boyish heart. The sole object of 
the book is to entertain, and it succeeds in its mission. ... It is 
just an entertaining book written in careful, and plain diction. . . . 
The average boy will pick this book up and keep reading it until he 
finally reaches the end and learns how the power of the pirate was 
broken." — The Springfield Union. 

"When we chance upon a worthy juvenile like 'The Pirate of 
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touches his interests ; the incidents are probable ; there is no gush, 
and no newsboy gets to be a millionaire. Instead we have the story 
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described. The Swedish immigrants of that region are pictured in a 
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against the persecutions of a half-breed Indian neighbor. It is a 
compact narrative told with humor." — Chicago Evening Post. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

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